We Predict The 1975’s Upcoming Album By Exploring Their Past

Since taking the name The 1975 in 2012, the quartet has been on a continuous run of dropping albums that reflect a constantly evolving sound and vibe. The only questions remaining on our minds are -
1. What conditioner does Matty use (how the hell can one man’s hair be so goddamn luscious)?
2. More pertinently, what will The 1975 do next?

Before we jump into our our predictions, we thought we’d trace the ghosts of the band’s past through their previous four albums, for our humanoids who maybe haven’t dipped their toes that deep into the foursome…

The 1975 Debut (2013) - Dark, Raw, Earnest

Released in 2013, this debut masterpiece holds its own amongst all the other fantastic releases that year. Its perfection lies in its imperfection - fuzzy, raunchy and intimate, like something out the garage. Despite being influenced by alternative and rock titans (LCD Soundsystem, M83, U2 just to name a few), this self-titled debut still remains very undeniably authentic, with multiple shades of their unmistakable noir colouring the quartet’s beaming guitars and synths.

We’re welcomed into the world of The 1975 with the now iconic opening of frontman Matty Healy crooning ‘Go down, soft sound, midnight, car lights’ over multi-layered synth tapestry that feels like you’re sinking down a dark clear ocean. The album goes on to feature classics like “Chocolate” and “Girls” that shot them to the stratosphere of popular music, amongst the formidable and severely underrated tracks that complete the LP.

“Robbers” might as well rip our hearts out - the supporting harmonies and the resulting vocal performance is so pleading and raw, it sends chills up our spine. The most underrated track has to be “Heart Out” - one of the more hopeful songs on the album. Sounds like a tease that’s hiding a deep longing to get closer - “It’s just you and I tonight, why don’t you figure my heart out?”. We’re trying to figure out why we’ve never heard another band that sounds like The 1975, and have come to the conclusion that with its beautiful ballet of expertly layered synths, we’ve never heard anything that commands your body to move like that.

In conclusion, we would riot for this album in all its entirety.

ILIWYSFYASBYSUOI (2016) - Flamboyant, Sparkly, Intimate

We don’t think we’re going too far up my own asses to say that this was the album that solidified The 1975’s position as THE modern British band to listen to.

*inhale* I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It (ILIWYSFYASBYSUOI) *exhale* definitely had the most unique and expansive soundscapes amongst all The 1975’s albums, utilizing a diverse selection of instruments and tones, with a generous dollop of incredible saxophone work.

The band unashamedly draws from the zenith of 80s synth-music like Prince and Talking Heads for their bangers, and artists like Roberta Flack for their ballads. From the sparkly sonic supernova of “Love Me” and “The Sound”, to the insecure inner consciousness of “If I Believe You” and “Somebody Else”, to the intimacy of “Nana” and “She Lays Down” - the 16 tracks on this album consume you completely with its expansive and far-reaching performance. If you haven’t been blessed (ironically) by “If I Believe You”, give the track a listen. For those who wanna take their experience to the next level, treat yourself to the “Live From The O2” version - we’re currently still recovering from the spiritual experience.

At this point, we’re convinced that no album following ILIWYSFYASBYSUOI can be surpassed in greatness and have yet to be proven wrong.

A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships (2018) - Mature, Audacious, Fuck It

ABIIOR boldly ushered in a new sonic era for The 1975, dripping with a self-awareness and anxious desire to get their message of introspection across. Interestingly, the main character of the album in all its glamor and despair was the Internet - a constant companion and rival in the technological 21st century.

“Modernity has failed us, but I'd Love It If We Made It” is the anthem of the album, an excellent representation of the brutal honesty and hope in the bands’ lyricism for this album, a perfect example of how the band so finely tread the tightrope between massively anthemic and overly-self-indulgent through the record. As a child of famous parents and a pretty well-known artist for his questionable antics, frontman Matty does contribute to the crippling modernism he laments so much about in his tracks (think “saying controversial things just for the hell of it”).

Every track takes the emotions right to the edge, with a healthy dose of postmodern skepticism, making for a formidable statement of life in the very online 21st century. While this has convinced some to draw thematic parallels to Radiohead’s seminal Ok Computer, we’re convinced that comparing ABIIOR to any album at all would undermine the sheer unique chaos the band embodies here.

PS. Amongst all the madness, don’t miss out on the slow-burning gems like “Inside Your Mind” and “Mine” - it’d be criminal if you did. And the undeniably Britpop closer “I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)” - man, that always gets to our hearts.

Notes On A Conditional Form (2020) - Experimental, Contemplative, Honest

The 1975 released their genre-bending fourth studio album NOACF during the height of the pandemic. While the album seems like an all-over-the-place genre-wise, everything comes together as a cohesive project with a steady stream of instrumentals (some of which have a palpable Brian Eno vibe) and tracks with Matty’s tongue-in-cheek lyrics.

The pristine beauty “The End (Music For Cars)” comes early in the album to conclude their previous sonic era, giving way to a plethora of never-before-treaded territory by the quartet (think of the House-influenced “Shiny Collarbone”, the lo-fi-hip-hop “Nothing Revealed, Everything Denied”). Round it up with country-esque tunes about being on the road (“Roadkill”, “Playing On My Mind”) and literally as many other genres as there are songs, and you get their most experimental record yet. But of course, the groovy, longing “Tonight (I Wish I Was Your By)” reminds us that they very much can still write earworms effortlessly, and the Christopher Cross sampling “Bagsy Not In Net” brings the dancey synths once again.

Though it took awhile to figure this album out, our appreciation for it steadily grew. It’s definitely not the first album by them we’d think of recommending, but there’s just nothing like it when the vibe calls for it.

Being Funny In A Foreign Language (2022) - ?

Their upcoming album (with yet another long and cryptic title), Being Funny In A Foreign Language, drops literally this Friday! And our bet is that they’ll likely go back to their roots - the singles suggest that they’ll be sticking to their guns and not taking the experimentation as far as they did with Notes.

“Part of the Band” was the first single (featuring backing vocals by Michelle Zauner aka Japanese Breakfast), where Healy chronicles his life in an unsavory light over low-toned striking violin strokes and a fond 90s nostalgia. The next one, “Happiness”, came round flecked in all its 80s gloss and funk rhythms, clearly displaying what the band are best at. “I’m in Love with You” continued the post-funk-revival, with its cinematic-ode-to-silent-films MV serving up a gorgeous sequel to one of our all-time favourite MVs of all time, a Change of Heart. And the most recent one “All I Need to Hear”, is clearly the quintessential feelsy ballad that rounds up every album by them.

Now that the band also has mega-producer Jack Antonoff onboard (the dude’s literally everywhere), we’re curious to see if their sound will be shaken up, or if he ends up diluting it. Still though, we feel that the upcoming album is going to be an ode to their past, and we’re not ruling out what would be a welcome throwback to their self-titled Tumblr vibes.

Nevertheless, as much as we could think that the rest of the album might be similar, we know that their singles never fully represent the depth and complexity of each album by them. The singles are always just the groovy and catchy ones - the real gold is always waiting to be discovered in the rest of their album.

So we’ve placed our bets, and you’re our witness! The release is just days away and we’re teeming with anticipation. And once we’ve spun that LP until our stylus breaks, we’ll come back with our thoughts and you get to be the judge of our call.

Being Funny In A Foreign Language is released on 14 October.