Years & Years say ABBA inspired new single Crave: "They're so weird"

Olly Alexander has said that Years & Years' new single Crave was inspired by the "weird" story arcs found in classic ABBA songs. 

The new track becomes the second single from the band's forthcoming third studio album Night Call, which will be released January 7 2022 via Polydor. 

Speaking about Crave, Olly told Zane Lowe on his Apple Music 1 show that despite a trip into heady synth-pop, the track was actually inspired by the darker side of some classic ABBA tracks. 

"You know who was an inspiration in the studio?" He said. "Amongst others, ABBA. You know how ABBA just take you on a journey?"

It's a well-known fact for many pop fans that despite ABBA's mostly-upbeat discography, many of the tracks - especially from their later years - deal with darker narrative themes, like One Of Us' focus on divorce and Super Trouper centering on the loneliness of fame. 

MORE: View Years & Years' Official Charts history in full here

Olly continued: "Suddenly there'll be a shift or a change, and you're just like, 'Oh, take me with you.' So, yeah. They're so weird."

Night Call, arriving four years after sophomore record Palo Santo, is the first since the departure of Years & Years co-founding members Mikey Goldsworthy and Emre Türkmen. 

The band originally broke through in 2015, netting both a UK Number 1 single (King - their biggest seller with combined chart sales of 1.73 million) and Number 1 album (Communion - the fastest-selling debut record for a signed band at the time) in the same year. 

Olly's starring role in acclaimed Channel 4 drama It's A Sin earlier this year also saw The Pet Shop Boys hit of the same name receive a huge spike in streams following the transmission.