“You try and mask your pain in the most postmodern way/You lack substance when you say/Something like, “Oh, what a shame,” sang lead singer Matty Healy in the 1975’s song called “Sincerity Is Scary.” There are certain artists who are able to keep their sound and relay a meaningful message while still managing to keep up with more mainstream artists. The 1975 is one of those bands.
Coming from Manchester, England, the band consists of guitarist and lead singer Matthew Healy, lead guitarist Adam Hann, bassist Ross MacDonald and drummer George Daniel. The band formed in 2002, performing cover songs prior to writing their own, as Healy said, “eventually writing a song.” After getting rejected by tons of labels who felt that the band did not know “who they wanted to be,” the band eventually signed to Polydor Records.
With hits like “Chocolate,” “Sex” and “The City,” their first album entitled “The 1975,” released in 2013, topped the UK Charts and sold over 300,000 copies in the US. During this time, the band toured with Bastille, Muse and The Neighborhood, performing songs from the new album and off of the four previously released EPs. The band’s second album called “I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It” was also met with positive critiques. With songs like “UGH!,” “Love Me” and the band’s highest charting single “The Sound,” the album topped countless charts in the UK, US, Scotland, Japan and more.
The band’s latest album titled “A Brief Inquiry to Online Relationships” produced by Healy and Daniel was released on Nov. 30. The album discusses our experiences, and it delves into the internet and human relationships. As far as lyrics in the song “Sincerity Is Scary,” Healy is describes how humans tend to put up a facade and pretend like everything is alright, which “breeds confusion and conflict in a relationship with others.” Healy further mentioned that if we stop pretending and instead expose ourselves and be vulnerable, we will be better off — not only physically, but emotionally. This is visible, especially in lines that say, “I’m assuming you’ll balloon when you remove the dirty spoon/and start consuming like a human, that’s what I am assuming.” Every song on this album takes the listener through a different facet of living in a postmodern world. With their song “TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME,” the band muses upon how living in the digital age has changed what people view as being unfaithful in relationships. “Love It If We Made It” has been described as a “social anthem” because it talks about all the explosive parts of today’s society — everything from drugs to the death and life of rappers and police brutality, even achieving a subtle jab at Donald Trump. Instead of making a song only about the horrible parts of life, the songs end by giving the listeners hope for better times. The album further explores topics such as hookups and cheating, America, and human relationships on the Internet.
The songs on this album put you through any emotion that a human can experience. In fact, in an interview with Genius, Healy said, “There’s anger in ‘A Brief Inquiry…’, but there’s everything in there. It needs to be hopeful; it needs to be fearful. It needs to be everything I am: Insecure, cocky, fragile.” Lastly, the album spans across genres, even managing a swing jazz feel in their song “Mine.”
This album is a must-listen, just like any The 1975 music. The band is currently on tour, will perform at Coachella and are set to debut their new album “Notes on A Conditional Form” in May.
