MUMBAI: Soulful electronic pop band Years & Years have been named the winners of the BBC Music Sound Of 2015 list of the ones to watch this coming year.

The London based electronic pop trio consists of bassist Mikey Goldsworthy, keyboard player Emre Turkmen and vocalist Olly Alexander. The band’s front man, Olly Alexander, is also an actor whose credits include Channel 4 teen drama Skins, where he played Jakob, and indie musical God Help The Girl.

The group have already had a very successful year, playing coveted support slots with Clean Bandit and Sound Of 2014 winner Sam Smith, as well as performing at a number of UK festivals including The Great Escape, Bestival and Latitude. Their new single King premiered on BBC Radio 1 earlier this week.

Years & Years say, "We can't really get our heads round it, Olly nearly passed out when we found out, it was so surreal and emotional. It feels like it means we’ve got a real shot, which means the world to us. People are going to listen to what we’re going to do, and we’ve just got to not muck it up. We’ve got to make the most of it and deliver."

A longlist of the top 15 artists for BBC Sound Of 2015 was published in December and the top five acts have been revealed each day this week by Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show.

BRITs Critics’ Choice winner James Bay came in second followed by unsigned grime artist Stormzy scooping third place. Atlanta born singer-songwriter Raury was fourth on the list, and Cambridge graduate and spoken word artist George The Poet was fifth.

Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens say, "Years & Years have already and will continue to capture imaginations with their electronic melodies and lively on stage sets. They are a young band with loads of ideas and a clear vision of the music they want to make, and that will take them far this year."

George Ergatoudis, Head of Music for BBC Radio 1 & 1Xtra, says, "Lead singer, Olly Alexander is blessed with a distinctive intoxicating voice that works beautifully with the band’s emotive electropop production. They fully deserve to top BBC Music’s Sound Of 2015 and they’re surely set for stellar success."

Around 140 influential music industry experts including DJs, critics and bloggers voted in this year’s list. They were asked to name their three favourite new acts by BBC News.

Pundit Andrew Trendell, Deputy Editor of Gigwise.com, predicts big things for the Years & Years, "With a string of flawless electropop singles under their belts in the form of Real, Take Shelter, Desire and new one King, their following has grown from cult to some pretty serious radio attention. Why? Few bands that could threaten the charts have arrived recently with as much integrity or a vision as fully formed as this. Expect them to be a true success story and dominate the festival season - and they're more than worthy."

The list was started in 2003 and last year’s winner, Sam Smith, has gone on to win numerous awards including Album of the Year for In The Lonely Hour and Record of the Year for Stay With Me. Previous winners have included LA pop band HAIM, Adele and Ellie Goulding.