Earlier today we hyped the new video from British garage punk duo Slaves, who made it on to the BBC’s Sound of 2015 list. Well, along comes news that London electronic pop trio Years & Years have topped that very list, earning the featured spot via a voting pool of 139 industry tastemakers.
And if you’re wondering “OMG who the hell cares?”, take note: Sam Smith topped the Sound of 2014 list. And he had quite a year, selling more than a million records in the UK and US and earning six Grammy nods. Previous winners include Adele, Jessie J., Ellie Goulding, and Haim, who won in 2013.
To celebrate the occasion — and the joining of some sweet company — Years & Years decided to cover Haim’s “Don’t Save Me” for the BBC’s Live Lounge, and you can watch video of that performance below.
Together since 2009, Years & Years have released singles through French electronic label Kitsune before signing to Polydor in 2014.
“People are going to listen to what we’re going to do, and we’ve just got to not muck it up,” says frontman Olly Alexander to the BBC. “We’ve got to make the most of it and deliver.”
Adds DJ Huw Stephens, who announced the band’s victory on BBC Radio 1: “Years & Years have already and will continue to capture imaginations with their electronic melodies and lively on stage sets. They are a young band with loads of ideas and a clear vision of the music they want to make, and that will take them far this year.”
And here’s a Years & Years original, if you fancy that sort of thing…