Well, it’s been a long time in coming, but we finally have the official video for Years & Years ‘Worship‘ — the eighth single from their debut album Communion. And it’s as gay as gay can be.
Because it’s Olly Alexander, lead vocalist of Years & Years, stripped down to tiny shorts and a vest, down in an underground parking lot that’s obviously a focus of the gay cruising scene, doing a suggestive dance for other guys sitting in cars with blacked-out windows, and then climbing onto their hoods and licking the windscreen.
And then…rejecting them all. Or is he?
And it’s a powerful video, because it’s one of those that can make you a little uncomfortable to watch, and those types of music videos are always the best.
Because they mess with your head, demand that you re-think what your basic values are, and ask you to examine why does a gay man being overtly gay still make you uncomfortable? What does that say about you and your hidden homophobia?
And that is always a good thing.
My call on it? Years & Years’ somewhat obsessive fans are going to love this or absolutely hate it. And that in and of itself is fabulous.
Besides, as Olly Alexander himself said about the video:
When we get the chance to make a video I start by asking myself a bunch of questions – what should it look like? How can we portray the songs meaning in the video? Is there a ‘statement’ I want to express?
What am I trying to say and what if it’s misconstrued? I go round and round like this and recently I’ve been questioning nearly everything, asking myself I’m doing enough, if I’m helping at all and what use, if any, do I have as a singer in a band?
Honestly, I don’t know the answers to these questions. I can’t pretend I haven’t felt, at times, profoundly discouraged and disheartened. I feel like I won’t ever be able to do enough. So, reality check, I make pop music.
This is a video for a pop song. However, the visibility of queer people feels more important to me now than ever.
The video for Years & Years ‘Worship‘ was created by Berlin and London-based filmmaker and photographer Matt Lambert.
His work tends to concentrate a lot on sexuality identity, and what it means to be gay, bi or transgender. Just like he has done here.
Watch it below. It’s fabulous.