Artist Retrospective Episode 1 — The 1975
This is the first episode of a new series I’m going to start writing. I titled the series Artist Retrospective, it will briefly dive into some of my favorite bands, their history and their best pieces of work. It’s going to be a quick, simple read to expose more people to more great bands and music. I will share videos, music and links as much as possible too!
Episode 1-The 1975
I found The 1975 late one night online just searching through YouTube when I encountered their song called “Sex”. One first listening to this song I was like wow this is interesting. It’s a rock song with sexually suggestive lyrics. Then I went back and listened to it a few more times and there was more to the song and it really took me by surprised how deep it actually was.
After I found that song I searched around more to see if these guys had anything else worth listening to. At the time they were an independent band without a major label album release. They were releasing new songs in EP’s (small 5 song albums) which was really different and cool. It allowed for people to get new songs more often than just 1 long album every year or 2.
This is when I realized that The 1975 was NOT a rock band. They are not a band that can be described by any genre. They do have rock songs, yet they have electronic songs, and gospel songs, and pop songs. So this was odd for me because normally a band can’t bridge and expand into multiple genres of music well but this band definitely manages to and nails it every damn time.
I took interest in their songs “Chocolate”, which is a HUGE reference to drugs, and “The City”, which deals with feeling lost and finding love. Both of these songs aren’t really rock songs but they’re just as interesting as “Sex” was because of the mix of sound and lyrics. Matt Healy, who is the lead vocalist and lyricist, has some serious talent when it comes to making music.
Their first major label album was called The 1975 which is obviously self titled and the first track off the album is also called “The 1975”. So they really like their name. I bought the album the day it came out and it is definitely one of my all time favorites. It includes some of the songs which they released on their past EPs such as “Sex”, “Chocolate” and “The City” but it also has new material too. There are a couple Interludes (short songs with out any vocals) which are just okay, they help space out the album. On this album they introduced their pop style music a bit with songs like “Girls”, “Settle Down” and “She Way Out”. They are extremely catchy with some simple lyrics but there are some cool meanings behind all of their songs that some people will grasp. This album is full of hits and I still enjoy it to this day, but there’s one hidden jewel on this album which I think deserves a lot more credit. It’s called “Robbers” and its a slower, simple song but with a huge lyrical story in it and the music video they released for it was amazing as well.
After the release of their self titled album I didn’t know how long it would be until they would release any new material. Fortunately less than a week ago (February 26th to be exact) they just released their newest album which had a lot of hype behind it. I didn’t know what to expect because this band was becoming very popular and when small bands grow they tend to lose focus and start release poor quality albums and music that doesn’t respect who they use to be. This was very challenging to listen to their new album without judging them at first. They do have a great track record of being about to be very diverse and creating great music in many genres but I was very skeptical
i like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it
Right above you can see the massive difference between the artwork from the first and second album. Fortunately this album did not disappoint me at all. The 1975 still managed to make great new music without compromising what made them such a great band to begin with. There are some short comings though. This album is without a doubt a great followup but it has a few songs which I feel don’t really belong. The first 2 singles they released for this album were “UGH!” and “Love Me” which are extremely poppy and feel forced to me. They are not solid singles and don’t highlight this album at all. “UGH!” is the stronger of the two and I can stand listening to, but I just think that both songs should have been remade to sound less overproduced and electronic.
Luckily this second album has 17 songs and definitely has some awesome tracks within it. The song on this album that has me hooked is “The Sound” poppy, catchy, simple and has a great lyrical story that reminds me how great this band can really be. I think this song can definitely attract new listeners and fans to this band. The video they just released also does a great job of highlighting this great song too.
This album does have some filler tracks that feel under developed but I understand that not every song can be a hit. Songs like “lostmyhead” and “Please Be Naked” just feel like their missing something (maybe vocals), but this album has some songs which show how much this band has developed too. “Somebody Else” and “Loving Someone” are definitely the underdogs of this album. “Somebody Else” is extremely lyrical and Matt does a great job conveying them with his vocals. This song just has a great flow to it and next to “The Sound” its my most played song off this album. “Loving Someone” is different, I would say its the closest thing to a rap song without being rap. It starts off very weird with some sampled vocals which also happen to be the chorus, the sound and music is also very simple and stays out of the way. This is an British Band and some of the lyrics do get lost in Matt’s accent but for the most part this song finds a way to be different in a good way.
This album is long like I said before the standard edition is 17 songs so I won’t be describing each one to the full extent. Some other interesting tracks include “She’s American”, it’s pretty much the sequel to “Girls” off of their first album, and “A Change Of Heart”, which is pretty much a slow song that sounds like it came straight from the 80’s. “If I Believe You” is pretty much a slow R&B song which isn’t really my type of music but I think they did a decent job of trying something new. “Paris” sounds kind of like a sequel to “Chocolate” and “This Must Be My Dream” is another 80’s style track which Matt does an awesome job with his vocals again.
The longest track on this album is 6 minutes and 26 seconds and it bares the same name as the album “i like it when you sleep for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it”. This song is was boring at first because its one of those interludes with barely any vocals it but then a few seconds after the few vocals the song shifts and the beat suddenly gets extremely upbeat and catchy with a few keys and background beat which is now stuck in my head. It’s a very different song but that also summarizes this whole album. The 1975 tried to push boundaries and attempted a couple of new things and when they did, they did it well. This album isn’t perfect I think and its not suppose to be, their best work is yet to come, but this is definitely the best followup album they could have made. I can definitely recommend it just as much as their first album.
Even with 2 major albums released The 1975 also made 4 EPs that were released prior to their first album. These EPs do contain some great songs as well a couple that were re-released on the first album. The songs on the EPs are definitely a bit darker and deeper so I would recommend listening to the Albums first and then if you like this band as much as me you’ll appreciate the EPs a lot. “Haunt // Bed” off the IV EP is a catchy slow song with a lot of meaning behind it. “Antichrist” is a powerful song that really has nothing to do about religion it’s on the Facedown EP and is seriously underrated. The Sex EP has 4 great songs including the original version of “Sex” the song which I first heard. The last song I’m going to discuss is “Me” it’s off the Music for Cars EP. This song is about a very touchy subject, it deals with abortion and its extremely dark. Matt used personal experiences to motivate him to write this song and its by far one of The 1975’s darkest and meaningful tracks. It’s not for the lighthearted even though its slow and doesn’t have much to it, the lyrics drive this entire song. I’ve listened to a lot of music in the years I’ve been alive but this track is probably one of the darkest and deepest ones I’ve heard ever but its meaningful which is why I like it.
WRAP UP & RECOMMENDED TRACKS
The 1975 hasn’t been around as long as some of my all time favorite bands but their ability to make music that weaves multiple genres is really rare and the lyrics and stories in some of their songs are really interesting and powerful. Down below is a screenshot of some songs by them that I recommend everyone should listen to. I’m also going to make a Public Spotify Playlist and a Google Music Public Playlist for those that use Spotify or Google Music to listen to music you’ll be able to use the links below too. Unfortunately Spotify doesn’t have their newest album until March 11th but I will update the playlist once it’s available but Google Music does have the album right now. Thanks everyone for reading and supporting! Please feel free comment, support, criticize and listen! I appreciate all feedback and I will be writing more of these I’m aiming for one a month! Thanks again!
