If you’re a fan of popular music or pay attention to the UK music scene at all, then you have probably heard of the band “ The 1975.” The band, which formed in 2002 when its members were all attending Wilmslow High School. Matty Healy, the band’s charismatic frontman, and staple songwriter have been adored by female (and male) fans since the group came onto the scene.
While the band is called "The 1975", their sound is distinctly 1980s in many of their songs. The insanely catchy and melodic guitar riffs and upbeat sound seemingly jumped straight from the speakers of my mom’s high school stereo and into the radio waves of the 21st century.
Their first major US hit, Chocolate, is not far from this formula. This song, along with their second hit, Girls, introduced American Top 40 radio to this pop-rock sound. But, what makes them different from that genre is the lyrics behind the upbeat pop background. Chocolate is actually a slang term in the UK for marijuana. Once you know that, the entire song’s meaning changes. Additionally, Girls has a much different meaning about being hurt by love and women. The rest of their self-titled first album has a very similar feel and tone.
Earlier this year, the band released their second full-length project entitled I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it. With that mouth-full of a title the band gained even more popularity in their home country with their singles “The Sound” and “Love Me” reaching #15 and #20 on the UK singles charts. The album even hit #1 on the Billboard 200 chart. While the overall sound of this album is still heavily influenced by 1980’s US rock music, and their own first album, the lyrical content is where we see a change for Matty as a writer and the band as a whole. On this album, the band takes is sarcasm and meta-humor towards fame to a whole ‘nother level. On, “Love Me,” Matty is seemingly referencing their own song “Girls.” On “Girls,” the theme is depression over the women who follow the band, whereas on “Love Me” Matty has seemingly become numb to the fame. He says, “Love me if that’s what you wanna do.”
On other occasions during their second album, the band references to songs from their debut project. The track “Change Of Heart” seems to be the biggest example of the changing lyrical tone for the band on this album. On this song, Matty references two songs from the first album. He sings, “I never found love in the city,” referencing the band’s first ever single “The City.” Also on “Change Of Heart,” Matty sings, “You used to have a face straight out of a magazine, now you just look like anyone.” This reference ties to the 1975’s song “Robbers,” where the lyrics in that song say “She had a face straight out a magazine.”
These lyrics point out the contrast from the themes of falling in love and being in love from the first album to following out of love and moving on in the second. This change in themes and viewpoints, along with the band's realization of their own fame (and of course sarcasm towards the whole deal) is clear in their wonderfully crafted music videos. The videos for “Somebody Else” and “Change Of Heart” are connected when played in sequential order, which harkens to the band self-referencing. In the video for “The Sound,” the band uses comments made by its critics to poke fun at themselves.
All in all, this group is one my favorites to come out in a long time and seeing the change and growth over the span of just two albums. I will be going to see them at the end of November, and will most definitely be writing an article about that experience! I can’t wait to see what is to come from this very talented group of guys!
