Young gay synth pop, a huge English hit.

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[6.62]

Patrick St. Michel: This is good, and I have no doubt it will be a great soundtrack for nights out and also plenty of kids struggling with crushes. What will probably make it special to a lot of people (and give Years & Years decent sales) though is something that doesn’t really hit me anymore, and all I hear is a mid-tempo song with only a few solid-sounding ideas. Not my taste, but I remember plenty of songs that filled a similar void for me.
[5]

Thomas Inskeep: If Disclosure were straight-up pop and didn’t sound so backward-gazing, they’d likely be Years & Years. This is an ebullient pop single that you can dance too, as opposed to dance-pop.
[7]

Scott Mildenhall: Feel Olly Alexander’s nerves on the verge of revelation. It’s a depiction of a moment and a feeling: a supermassive intimacy, electric blue skies reduced to backdrop for something far more fateful. His vulnerability is engrossing, but it’s at that moment that he becomes powerful. The effect is slightly lost when you think that this could be about a Clean Bandit gig, but the sentiment’s here, beautifully so.
[8]

Alfred Soto: We’ve reached a point where singers don’t imitate Michael Jackson but imitate Justin Timberelake imitating Michael Jackson: Olly Alexander slathers JT’s yearning middle range all over this lovely #2 British hit co-written and produced by Greg Kurstin, responsible for its trimness and efficiency. What sounds whey-voiced at first turns into a limning of unrelieved worry. By the time Alexander gets to the last “It’s you who’ve I’ve been waiting to find,” the emotional arc is complete. This deserves to be an American summer smash.
[8]

Brad Shoup: An open-air mix of dance-pop and AOR, with a nearly monotone chorus. If you’re going to channel a modulated Michael Jackson in your verses, I’d think you’re primed to let loose. Nothing really sparkles here: the streaky synths are tucked behind the disco hi-hat; the stuttering synths are just modest.
[5]

Will Adams: “Shine” stands apart from the rest of Communion, a bit more skewed toward bright, clear pop instead of the album’s cloudier offerings. In isolation, it’s gorgeously understated, those gated synths barely peeking through the surface. Olly Alexander’s got the same feather-light timbre as Ellie Goulding, but he gives the proper power when necessary.
[7]

Micha Cavaseno: I can hear Olly trying to sing like Abel Tesfaye on the choruses and the bridges. Although his voice lacks the grace and always sounds forced when he broaches the higher range, the transition to the hook has great little runs. As usual the music is good, offering healthy alternatives to mildewy house TV dinners or EDM clod-plod. As much as Years & Years have had a really good go with this current album, they have a much better album in them.
[6]

Edward Okulicz: On an album of straightforward dance-inflected chart pop, “Shine” has rather more third-single-ballad from a pop act in its DNA. It sounds like if Girls Aloud’s “Call the Shots” had been given to Will Young instead. Not as good, but still pretty good.
[7]