Olly Alexander says Years & Years was destined to be his solo project for a while.
The pop trio – which originally formed as a five-piece in 2010 – revealed last month that the 30-year-old singer will continue to front the band on his own without Mikey Goldsworthy and Emre Turkmen.
And the ‘It’s A Sin’ star has admitted they knew for a “long time” that this is where they were heading because the way they make music was no longer compatible, though Olly insisted there is no bad blood between him and his ex-bandmates.
He told Zoe Ball on BBC Radio 2: “We’ve had the most incredible time but we changed so much in that time. As human beings our lives had changed and the way we made music changed.
“When we announced that it was just going to be me moving forward that was kind of a long time coming for us and nothing bad had happened, there was no drama or anything, but as people we just decided to do our things, really, and that was it.”
Olly has just dropped his debut solo single under the Years & Years moniker, ‘Starstruck’, and has teased he’s finishing up a new LP.
The group – whose debut album ‘Communion’ was released in 2015 – said of their future in their statement in March: “Dear Y&Y fans… There’s been some changes that we want to fill you in on.
“This upcoming new album has been an Olly endeavour and we’ve decided that Years & Years will continue as an Olly solo project.
“The three of us are still good friends. Mikey will be part of the Y&Y family and play with us live and Emre will focus on being a writer/producer.
“These past 12 months have been crazy for us all and we want to thank you for the love and support you’ve given us over the years (& years).
“New Y&Y music will be coming this spring.”
Originally, the band – whose second record ‘Palo Santo’ dropped three years ago – also featured Noel Leeman and Olivier Subria, who both left in 2013.