![]() ![]() There is the thug who is now dating a cop who gets him to start reading classical literature, the lesbian journalist you can convince to follow her love to London, or the priest who has accepted that his faith might not be as popular as it once was. These interactions are where the meat of Night Call really lie and getting the passengers to talk can present some cool stories. ![]() ![]() Depending on your choices you can have your current passenger spilling their guts to you or sitting quietly waiting for their destination. This is when the dialogue discussed earlier will play out. By choosing a passenger you will drive to pick them up and they will inform you of their destination and the amount you will be paid is also displayed. When you first begin a night you will be greeted with an overhead map of Paris and a selection of passengers will appear for you to choose from. Regardless of the case, the game will play out the same. The game does also offer a set of difficulty levels you can choose from to further tailor the experience, from pure narrative to also having a money management system you need to keep track of. There are three different scenarios to choose from with varying motives making each case have their own challenge to solve. The whole premise of Night Call is to track down a serial killer and you accomplish this by gathering clues from your taxi passengers. The dialogue options presented during conversations are also some of my favorite of anything I have played in recent memory, with many different emotions and tones being available during different interactions. I also enjoyed the protagonist's narrations of occurring situations. Others did feel good when left up to my own interpretations, however. I found this approach very unique but it did come with its ups and downs as emotions of certain scenes aren’t always portrayed clearly. Instead, it relies purely on text to get its story across. The whole game plays out without a single voiced line of dialogue. “Take me out, somewhere loud,” he adds on ‘20 Minutes’, rushing towards the comfort of the dancefloor.ĭespite its touchstones, ‘Night Call’ draws sparingly on the hallmarks of ‘80s synth-pop– while the likes of Dua Lipa, Kylie, Jessie Ware and Miley Cyrus have laden their own records with strutting slap-bass, Years and Years third record retools these sounds for contemporary pop – it’s less of a tribute, and instead integrates a smattering of squelching synth-sounds and bright French House-indebted beats in more subtle ways.Night Call is a different kind of narrative experience than what I am used to. “I’m not one for casual intimacy,” he shrugs.Īt times ‘Night Call’s escapism makes way for something more insidious – “If all i know is hurt, I’d rather be high,” Alexander sings on ‘Make It Out Alive’. Soaring into falsetto, ‘Intimacy’ has the outside appearance of sultry slow-burner about some very intense and solemn face-stroking, but is instead bitingly realistic about the long-term prospects with the person he’s just tied down to his four-poster. On ‘Crave,’ Alexander begs for “the pain from you” atop discordant piano pounds, and a muffled bass that feels like it’s pounding out of a hidden basement door, “I’ll do anything to stay if you want me to”. just put it all into the record.”Īccordingly, hunger rumbles at the centre of ‘Night Call’ – as well as being made up of the most immediate songs Years & Years have ever released, an insatiability burns at their centre. ![]() “I put all the kind of stuff I was missing, like going out, dancing, having sex. Loosely inspired by the pounding soundtrack of bittersweet ‘80s bangers that soundtrack It’s A Sin – from Bronski Beat, Wham! and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark to the Pet Shop Boys hit that titles the show – the album takes its name from a euphemism for hooking up, and across its 14 tracks it celebrates dancing the night away in sweaty nightclubs and the giddiness of locking eyes with a brooding stranger across the bar.Īs Alexander explained to Zane Lowe recently on Apple Music 1, even the process of making it felt like going on a filthy staycation from the drudgery of pandemic life. The touchstones for ‘Night Call’ are also a lot more direct – primarily, it’s a straight-for-the-pop-jugular record of escapist moments. That same playfulness is present here in spades. As much as ‘King’ was a straight-up Number One hit, it also hinted at sexual power dynamics with lyrics exploring control and submission. The pogoing wobble-synth bassline of ‘Starstruck’, powering forward a huge chorus made for blasting out of the radio, feels like a single that bridges the gap with the direct songwriting of Years & Years’ debut album. If ‘Palo Santo’ felt like a welcome left-swerve into boundary-pushing pop, ‘Night Call’ feels a little like its prequel. ![]()
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