The 1975 seem to be taking a cue from Fall Out Boy after naming their recent album “I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It” (try saying that five times fast). The band’s third studio album hit shelves on Feb. 26.
For an album titled about sleep, the songs certainly keep you up. The first single off the album, “Love Me,” is an incredible funk rock song mixed with weird alien keyboard noises. At first, the sound does come off as jarring but still works with the riffs and crooning of Matty Healy’s voice – and what a voice he shows off on this track. Healy’s crooning in the first verse rival’s Steven Tyler of Aerosmith’s, especially on the climb.
The music video is just as wild as the song and features Healy dancing shirtless with a small army of famous cardboard cutouts, including one of a younger Harry Styles, which Healy later pretends to make out with. The video and track together create a very odd experience, a testament to Healy’s own feeling that The 1975 doesn’t really fit in with the rock star scene.
“UGH!,” the second single, was released two days after “Love Me,” and they are best listened to as a pair. “UGH!” follows a very similar structure to “Love Me,” but Healy’s vocal performance is much softer, giving “UGH!” a much more relaxed feeling, fit for a song with such a blasé title. The music video follows a similar color scheme as the “Love Me,” video. “UGH!,” however, has more shadowed shots, reflecting the more intimate nature of the song.
The album takes a turn in style with “The Sound.” A snappy track about a breakup, borrows help from a backing chorus for the first intro. On the studio track, the backing vocals are distorted, which helps boost Healy’s voice but detracts from the overall effect of the song and suffers a little from being over-mixed. The track sounds much better live.
The next two singles, “Somebody Else,” and “Change of Heart,” take the album down a slower track. Like “The Sound,” these tracks also deal with breakups. Specifically, “Change of Heart,” details how people fall out of love. While “Somebody Else,” describes the feeling when an ex gets with somebody else. Really, the only difference between the two songs is that Healy’s voice is distorted and echoes in parts of “Somebody Else.” The tracks have almost the same beat, just in a different key.
Despite the last two singles being virtually the same song, a holistic look at the album perfectly shows off The 1975’s range of talent and eccentric sound.
Top Track: “Love Me”
Grade: B+
Verdict: In an interview with Rolling Stone, George Daniel, The 1975’s drummer, describes the album as ” the antithesis of an eponymous record.” I have to disagree with him. Stylistically, the album is a natural progression from the last album, with similar riffs and mixing. There was clearly more experimentation in the production of this album, probably because the band was coming to terms with their own fame. In the same vein, the band has shown incredible growth lyrically, allowing for a more personal album.
