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| image: genius.com |
On the 1st of June last year, fans of the 1975 across the globe were left distraught and a little bit dumbfounded after the band posted a series of cryptic comic strip style images across their social media accounts, hinting that they had split. A few days later they announced plans for a follow up to their incredibly successful debut. A debut that took everyone by surprise back in August 2013, going straight in at number 1 and demonstrating just how hard work, outrageous ambition and a relentless touring schedule can transform four normal lads from a small town in suburban Manchester into coveted rockstars.
By launching this dramatic social media campaign, along with other means of heightened publicity, the band have only set themselves up for sky high expectations. Those who keep up to date with frontman Matthew Healy’s romanticism, however, will be fully aware that this was completely intentional. Put your pompous view of how the 1975 make music for teenage girls aside for a moment and admire their refreshing ideology that music is much more than record sales and award shows. Their attention to detail, their aesthetic, their penchant for the mysterious and alluring; they embody what all good pop bands should be but very few actually are. The self-created buzz they've propelled at their fans and critics conveys the confidence, tenacity and just plain passion they put into their art which is a breath of fresh air. As Healy put it in a recent interview: “I’m challenging people to sit through an hour and 15 minutes and 17 songs that all sound completely different from each other. It’s quite an emotional investment… the world needs this album…”
The record’s first single came in the form of ‘Love Me.’ An astounding contrast from the subtlety of their first LP. ‘Love Me’ is an audacious funk explosion, channelling the likes of David Bowie and Peter Gabriel with an overtly late 70’s/80’s sensibility. Putting this track out first was certainly a bold move for the band. However, the message that the track carries serves as the perfect introduction to the band’s reinvention that they hinted at in their previously mentioned social media demise. As well as being a perfectly polished pop song, ‘Love Me’ pokes fun at popular culture and the shallow and detached world we live in. “You look famous let’s be friends and portray we possess something important,” a sarcastic one liner which comes as no surprise from Healy and may come across as cripplingly self-aware and candid but at the end of the day, the boy next door didn't sell out 5 nights at Brixton Academy, did he?
The band’s appetite to produce an album rich in styles- ceasing to limit themselves to one particular genre has certainly been attained. There’s moments of 90’s R&B in there (‘UGH!’ with its TLC tinged groove), there’s points of acoustic balladry (take the sentimental ‘Nana’ for example with tear jerking lyrics of Healy’s late grandmother and his disbelief in religion. Or ‘She Lays Down’ with its hearty Bob Dylan inspired guitar line). There’s also elements of shoe-gazey atmospheric pop which the 1975 are no strangers to. ‘Lostmyhead’ and the album’s title track are just two examples of the band’s tendency to go off on an obscure tangent of dreamlike ambience.
Despite the sheer variety that was promised (and delivered) on this album, the 80’s panache the band have tampered with throughout their, so far, short career is surely paid homage to on a number of occasions. ‘Somebody Else’ a subdued and haunting floor filler, ‘She’s American’ embellished with glittering synth and the kind of lyrics you’d expect from a young man hurled into the limelight going from working in a call centre to becoming a regular LA party goer. ‘This Must Be My Dream’ taking a similar direction.
If you were to choose the tracks most in keeping with the 1975’s back catalogue you might end up with ‘Loving Someone’ and ‘The Ballad of Me and My Brain.’ Reverting back to tracks like ‘So Far (It’s Alright)’ and ‘Menswear’ with witty ramblings of the human condition. The former an intricately layered track with impressive and thought provoking lyrics on the indoctrination of youth through the media. “We’re all human, we’re just like you man” Healy declares in this heavily electronic track, clearly influenced by The Streets’ ‘Original Pirate Material.’ The latter is a short lived anthem that almost sounds like a cry out for help with its screechy vocals. “What do you expect when you’ve got no mind?” Healy asks before breaking into laughter. This moment of madness is almost understandable considering the days of walking down the street and going unnoticed are long gone for these boys.
With such a highly anticipated 17 track album, there’s going to be a differing of opinions. I myself can appreciate every single track in its own right. The creative process behind each and every track put out by the 1975 is always a labour of love. Lyrically, this album is as good as it gets and instrumentally, its clear that the band have ran with their rapid success to create something arena worthy. The band’s hands on approach to making music make fellow musicians in the guitar band category look pretty inadequate with their blasé attitudes. The 1975 are living proof that its cool to care, contrary to popular belief. I Like it When You Sleep is a triumph.
Written for Post Music Depression
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