Forming as teenagers at Wilmington High School in Cheshire way back in 2002, a decade before professionally releasing any music, The 1975 are in many ways one of the most unlikely success stories of the modern era.
Starting out as an emo and punk covers band, the quartet have morphed into a self-referential, art-pop/yacht rock revival behemoth, fronted by one of the most polarising figures in music. Whatever you think of motormouth frontman Matty Healy, and his often-confusing stage persona - some kind of irony-soaked amalgam of '80’s Bowie, 90’s Bono, Thom Yorke and Morrissey - there’s no denying that he and his bandmates Adam Hann (guitar), Ross MacDonald (bass), and George Daniel (drums) can pen a memorable tune.
Archly gobbling up slacker indie rock, ambient electronica, modern R&B and pure 80’s new wave yuppie pop, and turning it into something uniquely The 1975, their story is a fascinating one, soundtracked by some genuinely wonderful records.
The 1975 (2013)
By the time their self-titled debut album was released, The 1975 had accumulated a solid fan-base and enough hype to ensure that the record topped the UK album charts. Although it was received as an '80’s inspired indie-pop-rock record at the time, going back to The 1975 today, it sounds far more straightforward in comparison to where they would go subsequently.
It certainly feels like their most guitar-led release, with singles Girls and Sex riding along on jaunty, head bobbing riffs and The City driven onwards by huge, airy hard rock drums. There were certainly enough deviations from indie to make The 1975 a confusing band to pigeonhole even at this early stage; the smoky piano ballad of Is There Someone Who Can Watch You, M.O.N.E.Y.’s glitchy, art-pop and the detached electronica of Menswear all hint at a restless creative spirit, something they’d massively expand on going forward.
I Like it When You Sleep, for You are So Beautiful and Yet So Unaware of It (2016)
It would be unfair to say that all traces of 'rock' had been purged by the time The 1975 got to their second album, but the main influences that permeate I Like it When You Sleep... are definitely far from the standard guitar-bass-drum world. Across a 75-minute run time, the influence of electronic duo Boards of Canada (on the title track), R&B superstar D'Angelo (UGH!) and The Human League (The Sound and Love Me) far outweigh anything from rock and roll.
The 1975 sound even better for it though, exploring the vastness of their own personal record collections and making an album that is far richer, eclectic and surprising than their debut. For some, the expansive run time, 25-minutes longer than The 1975, was too much of an undertaking, but those that were open minded enough to embrace those genre-magpie, sonic flights of fancy found something that far outstrips their previous work in terms of pure creativity.
A Brief Enquiry into Online Relationships (2018)
After a pair of UK Number One albums, massive commercial success and huge growth as a band, The 1975 clearly felt that it was time for them to step forward and become the definitive band of their generation. The advance build-up to their all-important third album was dominated by delays - due to Healy’s stint in rehab for heroin addiction - and grandiose statements about their intention to make a modern version of Radiohead’s OK Computer or The Smiths The Queen is Dead.
Such quotes appeared to set The 1975 up to fail, but A Brief Enquiry into Online Relationships is unquestionably the most ambitious record of their career. Exploring folktronica, gospel, jazz, ambient electronica and more, ABEIOR feels like an album that weighs heavy on the shoulders of its creators. Sounding more downbeat, reflective, broken and depressed than ever before, whilst simultaneously keeping that restless spirit and curiosity of what they as a band were capable of, it’s a long and daunting listen for those who just wanted to hear Chocolate over and over again. But, given time and repeated listens, those layers reveal themselves; Love it if We Made It, I Like America & America Likes Me and I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes) are some of their most essential and moving material. The modern OK Computer? It’s not as mad a proclamation as it sounded at the time.
Notes on a Conditional Form (2020)
Very much considered the sister, companion piece to A Brief Enquiry..., the Amnesiac to that album's Kid, Notes on a Conditional Form very much continues the approach of The 1975’s previous album, with similar results. Opening with a guest spot from environmental activist Greta Thunberg, who joins FKA Twigs, Phoebe Bridgers and Matty’s father Tim 'Auf Wiedersehen, Pet' Healy as guests on the record, it sees the band aiming for the highest highs.
It's a patchier affair, understandable, perhaps, considering that this is their lengthiest album, but when The 1975 get it right here, they produce some of their finest songs. People is without doubt their heaviest song, delving back into their post-hardcore roots, the delicate Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America (featuring Bridgers) is gloriously heart-tugging, the clubby Having No Head is a fantastic piece of propulsive synth and If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know is simply one of the finest pop songs of this millennium: featuring a sax solo straight out of a classic Hall & Oates album, it might just be the best thing The 1975 have ever put their name to.
Being Funny in a Foreign Language (2022)
The moment that The 1975 properly discovered brevity. After a trio of highly diverse and experimental albums, Being Funny in a Foreign Language may potentially mark the point at which The 1975 finally settled on exactly who and what they are as a band. Ditching the initial demos made with Bon Iver producer BJ Burton to instead hook up with modern super-producer Jack Antonoff, the bands fifth album is tight, taut, concise record, consisting of 11 simple, but expertly written and captured, modern pop-rock tunes.
Healy was open in interviews about how, rather than relentlessly trying to find a new sound, BFIAFL was an attempt to distill their formula to this point to as perfect a place as they could get it. So, the joyous opening half, featuring the air-punching likes of Looking for Somebody (To Love), Caroline and I’m in Love With You, give way to a more melancholic second half, with About You and All I Need to Hear bringing gorgeous, downbeat reflection to the table. Combined they make a record that feels like the perfect, purest refinement of the first decade of The 1975.
