Pet Shop Boys collaborating with Years & Years’ frontman Olly Alexander
Fans of synth-pop, it’s time to rejoice! Pet Shop Boys has announced that it is working on a secret collaboration project with Years & Years lead singer Olly Alexander.
The duo – whose real names are Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe – took to Twitter to share the news, posting a photograph of them beaming away next to the 28-year-old vocalist. Alongside the image, the former wrote: “It was fun to be back in the studio with Mr Olly Alexander.”
Alexander later re-shared the tweet from his own account, as he described the ‘Go West’ hitmakers as his “heroes”. He also posted a similar snapshot on his Instagram.
It was fun today to be back in the studio with Mr Olly Alexander of @yearsandyears! Neil x (Photo by Pete Gleadall)#PetText pic.twitter.com/1zQCApGMeu
— Pet Shop Boys (@petshopboys) April 26, 2019
Some fans were thrilled by the idea of them recording music together, with one Twitter user replying: “2 of my absolute favourite bands working together sounds like a dream come true, can’t wait to hear what you have been working on.”
“I have asked and dreamed of it since I was a wee child,” an enthusiastic user joked. Meanwhile, another described the collaboration as a “pleasant surprise” and one more went so far as to call them “precious creatures.”
“Three of my favourite west end girls,” another replied.
Others were more reserved, with another writing: “I’ll openly admit that I’m no fan of Years And Years (don’t really like his voice) but I will say that this is a lovely pic! And if you’ve recorded a song together, I’ll definitely check it out.”
Olly Alexander revealed that he had written a song with Pet Shop Boys (pictured) back in 2017. (Photo by Tabatha Fireman/Getty Images)
Could they finally be releasing ‘Dreamland’?
Whatever the three are working on these days remains a mystery – although there is speculation that they have finally recorded ‘Dreamland,’ a track they allegedly wrote as a trio a couple of years ago. Back in 2017, Alexander revealed in an interview with The Guardian that he had written the Margate-inspired song with Tennant and Lowe.
“I felt like I didn’t want to write about politics simply because I felt like I should,” he explained at the time. “But then last week I wrote a song with the Pet Shop Boys.
“It’s inspired by a fairground in Margate called Dreamland, but while I was writing it, Neil Tennant said to me, ‘This makes sense right now with Trump closing the borders.’ The song became something that touched on what’s going on in the world.
“I’d write lyrics and he’d say, ‘No, it needs to be more direct.’ He’d take a simple line and interject a subversive political statement. That’s the challenge as a pop writer, to do both at once.'”
