Years & Years: New album Night Call has bold sound that will please old fans and new

Then in March he announced he had parted ways with his Years & Years bandmates Mikey Goldsworthy and Emre Turkmen but would continue as a solo project. And now he is gearing up to release his first album as a bona fide solo artist – a personal collection of songs that are a definite departure from his previous work.

“It’s fun to talk about this album,” he reflects over the phone from his London home, sipping on his morning coffee. “Because it was really my escape during lockdown.

“It’s a project I’ve been working on for like three years – and it took way longer than I thought it would. So the fact that it is coming out and it has reached the finish line, and I feel happy with it, it’s definitely nice to focus on that happening.”

It’s been a journey for the actor and singer, who was born in North Yorkshire and attended school in Gloucestershire and Wales.

Five years after Years & Years formed in London, Alexander got his first true taste of fame when their synthpop-y single King went to number one in the UK – and entered the top 10 all around Europe. Suddenly they were headlining festivals abroad and Alexander, who is gay, was a spokesperson for the LGBT community.

But Alexander notices a different kind of attention now, following his starring role as Ritchie Tozer in the Russell T Davies-created It’s A Sin, which chronicles the lives of a group of gay friends living in London during the 1980s Aids crisis.

“It was a surreal experience because I don’t think anything can prepare you for the first time you feel like you’re becoming famous,” he explains. “I thought I had experienced what that felt like in 2015, when King went to number one and Years & Years took off. But then after It’s A Sin it did feel like this whole new experience.

“I was like, ‘Wow, this is a bit next level’, because people really felt connected to that show, so it was quite overwhelming. Off the back of the pandemic and everything feeling like we live inside a dystopian reality, it was quite strange. I can’t believe this year is nearly over. It’s been quite the rollercoaster.”

With his album finally finished, Alexander is pleased to be talking about music again.

Night Call, which is due for release in January, is not a radical departure from the Years & Years sound, but it is adventurous enough to please old fans and win over new ones as well. The influence of French house (think Daft Punk, Stardust and Cassius), Pet Shop Boys, George Michael and classic disco runs deep.

“I had come off the back of making It’s A Sin and really immersing myself in 80s music,” he recalls. “An incredible era for music. So much of it really captured the spirit of liberation on the dance floor, the euphoria despite the pain, and how that narrative took on so many different perspectives and was so relevant to that time with people suffering with HIV and Aids.”

Night Call is released on January 7.