Years & Years: Olly's 'shiny pop video love' for gay relationships

Olly with bandmate Michael

Years & Years singer Olly Alexander has opened up about embracing his sexuality in his band's new video.

The singer reckons there isn't enough diversity in pop videos and decided to feature non-heterosexual relationships because it shouldn't feel "unusual" in 2016.

The group re-released Desire from their number one album Communion, but with new visuals.

"I wanted the video to feel sexy," Olly said in an open letter to fans.

He thinks some people still have a "don't shove it in our faces" attitude when it comes to being gay and says he was inspired to "own" his sexuality after growing up watching videos by the likes of Madonna and Britney Spears.

Olly tweeted: "Wrote a lil open letter to go with our video for DESIRE ft @ToveLo."

"Most of the pop videos I've seen that have any male and female interaction are usually centred around a romance, and that's great.

"I am all for romance, but let's face it there are a lot of other sexualities and identities that are well deserving of some shiny pop video love.

"Everyone has a different definition of what they find sexy, so why do we so often get given one version of what sexy is time and time again?

"For me, whoever it is, two women, two men, a group of gender-queer people, it's all cute. I am an openly gay male singer, in a band called Years & Years, we make pop music.

"We're not the only queer-frontman-led acts nor am I the only openly gay male singer but all that being said there aren't that many of us and at times I've felt real pressure to hide or to limit my sexuality."

He adds: "Gay people have sex, and it's not just gay people, it's all kinds of people.

"All these non-straight people, they're out there, having sex. Sex, between two consenting adults, can be a healthy, positive, safe and enjoyable thing.

"I like having sex, being able to assert myself and talk about my sexuality is an empowering thing for me. It's a difficult road from shame to acceptance and part of making that journey easier is owning and embracing it all."

Swedish singer Tove Lo features on the re-release of Desire and the music video was directed by Fred Rowson.

Years & Years have spoken before about encouraging others to celebrate "weirdness" after they all experienced being bullied at school.

For more stories like this one you can now download the BBC Newsbeat app straight to your device. For iPhone go here. For Android go here.