Olly Alexander was able to "express himself" in a way he's not been able to before on the new Years & Years album.

The 'It's A Sin' star - who identifies as gay - has released the first studio effort since the 'Desire' group became his solo project last year, following the departures Mikey Goldsworthy and Emre Turkmen.

On 'Night Call', released today (21.01.22), the 31-year-old singer-and-actor says he wanted to take the opportunity to embrace his "freedom of expression".

On the raunch-filled collection inspired by late-night hook-ups, Olly told NME: “I realised that I wanted the album to be about sex, but also just to have this, like, freedom of expression.

"I wanted to express myself in a way that maybe I hadn’t expressed myself before. And so once I figured that out – that it was going to be uptempo and fun and music you could move your body to – that sort of helped me [put it together].”

In the candid chat, the former 'Skins' star also insisted he's come to terms with people commenting on how he has sex.

He said: “You know, being an artist is definitely a strange experience, because when I put a song out, I have no idea how it’s going to be taken – and sometimes I can be surprised. People commenting on how you have sex is quite surreal, I suppose, but I’ve made my peace with it now.”

Olly previously teased that he channelled "slightly deranged sexual energy" into the LP, which sees him take on a character who he admitted he has been "at different times" in his life.

He explained: "I really wanted to go into this sort of twisted fantasy...

'"Crave' is a good example of this slightly deranged sexual energy that kind of became a bit of a Muse, this character that I very much have been at different times, so that's throughout the record. And I think it's a little bit more assertive than maybe the previous ones. Exactly. Ask for what you want, guys... I feel definitely more solid."

Years & Years last studio album as a group was 2018's 'Palo Santo'.