Years & Years spoke to NME backstage at Glastonbury 2022 and told us why he’s excited about the current revival of Kate Bush‘s music. Watch our interview above.

Olly Alexander talked to us right before performing on the Other Stage on Sunday (June 26). The show marked his third time at Worthy Farm, and his first time taking to the stage solo as Years & Years.

During our interview, we asked Alexander about a recent tweet, where he’d shared Bush’s name in all capital letters without any further comment. Bush’s recent resurgence comes after her 1985 track ‘Running Up That Hill’ secured the top spot on the UK singles chart after appearing in the latest season of Stranger Things.

“I’ve always loved Kate Bush so much,” he replied. “We have [this current] Kate Bush renaissance, the Kate Bush-aissance. Just hearing her voice and how magical she is, I think she really brings this essence of magic.

“People really connect that with her. I just feel like she’s released magic in the world again, and I’m just like ‘thanks, Kate Bush’.”

KATE BUSH

— olly alexander (@alexander_olly) June 18, 2022

Before heading out, Alexander also told us the message he’d like to share with fans who were about to watch his Glasto set. “I’m just grateful to be here first of all,” he said. “I’m so lucky I get to do this. I get to express myself when I’m on stage and get to be this version of myself that’s bigger than who I am usually. He’s more flamboyant and more out there but it’s an expression of who I am inside. That’s a part of me and I get to do that on stage.”

He added: “I hope people that come to the show and come to watch Years & Years, get to get a bit of that for themselves, [to say] ‘I’m going to be myself, I’m going to be freakier!’ That’s what I hope because life is really difficult right now for so many different people and in so many different ways.”

Years & Years also said that returning to the stage after the pandemic was, “the best”.

“It’s so good to be back out there because it’s such an exchange. When you have an audience and when you have people watching and listening you exchange something. It’s very precious and I’m just so happy to be doing it.”

Check back at NME here for the latest news, reviews, interviews, photos and more from Glastonbury 2022.