Olly Alexander - Polari

Polydor Records

'Polari' is the album Olly Alexander has been waiting his entire pop star life to make: a fully realised and immaculately executed homage to the pop music of the 80s that has shaped his musical personality. It's a record informed by the past and all its cultures and symbols but inspired by the future and the ongoing quest to perfect the perfect pop record; while it doesn't quite reach those exalted heights, it's still a joy to see Olly reaching for the stars.

The album's success lies in its fully realised sound with a tight team of Olly working in close collaboration with producer whiz Danny L Harle with help from Finn Keane giving it a more satisfying immersive listen than the scattergun approach of the last Years & Years album. This is Olly's proper solo introduction, and he comes with the hits to celebrate it with 'Cupid's Arrow' and 'When We Kiss' sounding euphoric and laced with drama. The vibe is classy and pristine yet playful and energised at the same time. It also regularly hits hard, with the industrial robo-synth crash of the title track sounding heavier than anything he has done before.

The concept of Polari that inspires the album is all about hidden meanings and symbolism, and there's a lot of that to uncover on the album with a through line to Olly's past work and lyrics that deal with sex, religion and the meaning of life. All the important stuff. If that all sounds a bit heavy, don't worry; you have the frothy pop fun of a track like 'Make Me A Man' to balance it out. In the context of the record, even the maligned Eurovision hit 'Dizzy' takes on a new life, fitting perfectly into 'Polari''s sonic tapestry.

In a decade-long career in pop, Olly Alexander has taken a winding route to his first proper album. There's a sense that he still has much more to give as a solo artist, but 'Polari' is an assured and ambitious start from one of our brightest pop personalities.