(Sorry guys, I found this one inescapable)
This album starts off with “The 1975”, as per tradition. And it’s honestly, pretty ear-grabbing. Matty’s absolutely drenched vocals are going to be either something that attracts fans of like James Blake and Bon Iver or push you away. But it’s warm, and it’s something that really demands attention as an intro. However, I do sort of wish that this was a little more of an intro, there are some good ideas here. On the other hand, “Give Yourself a Try” is an upbeat and wild sort of Synth-Pop track. But like I said, it’s very loose and free feeling, almost coming off unrehearsed in parts. I love the soaring riff and Matty’s very confident vocals. He’s always been sure of himself. But here, he comes off as this suave and genuinely cool dude speaking for a nation of his millennia fans. He goes intro sex, which many of The 1975’s tunes do, but even that comes off so much more tasteful and less creepy than it has in the past. This is genuinely urgent and exciting and shows The 1975 already challenging themselves. On the other hand, I love “TooTimeTooTimeTooTime"'s much more woozy and warm vibes. Oh boy, ok so this is going to be seriously polarizing, like The 1975 themselves. I mean, we’re living in a time were Drake thinks he can pull off any accent he wants and the amount of Fake Dancehall on the market is staggering. This one on the other hand really goes deep in on this warm, tropical sound that I feel like I should hate. But it’s done really tastefully, and Matty’s very groovy and hypnotic vocal performances make this come off so catchy. Then we have “How to Draw / Petrichor” which is much less direct, as this one really takes it’s time painting this very sweet, graceful atmosphere. It’s very light on the ears, it’s delicate, but it ends up not coming off cheesy even though it has like this Music Box feel. And let me tell you, I actually feel like Matty’s absolutely drenched vocals even come off even more chilling and interesting here. Among this very graceful atmosphere, I can’t help but get totally swept up. And the progression here into this much more electronic and upbeat groove is done really well too In the past, The 1975 have always had a very BIG feel to their music. But I feel like so far this has been a serious realization of what they can do. Not to mention, I love just how alien and weird Matty’s vocals come off towards the end. Now, you have to give The 1975 credit, they really are branching out into all sorts of different sounds. “Love It If We Made It” shows Matty diving into sex and drugs once again, and what goes into steamy moments in the backseat of a car etc. But it’s done so incredibly passionately that I can’t help but really embrace it all. I love the patient, pulsating beat that just keeps pounding away. Instrumentally, this really isn’t that wild of an album, more often than not, it’s pretty straightforward. But the group play it all with plenty of passion, and Matty has reached such a level of charisma that it all works. It’s sort of throwback vibe, especially with that chorus. But if this is what we’re getting moving forward, I’m interested.
But, I’m sorry fangirls, for all of the time that “Be My Mistake” has been floating around I still think this is such a back step. The amount of charisma and passion in this album so far has been monumental. But this one just gives me all sorts of PTSD to some of the later moments, on their first two albums, moments where Matty just ended up coming off much more creepy than anything. This is painfully bland, and not a beautiful track by any means. Even in Matty’s vocals and lyrics, I feel like he knew people would eat this up anyway and didn’t care when writing it. So no, I don’t like it. And it’s not like The 1975 can’t write a ballad, they’ve done it plenty of times. “Sincerity Is Scary” however takes a step back in the right direction, in a big way. It starts off with this once again very vast atmosphere that’s absolutely gorgeous but instantly gets a massive amount of “cool” with some jazzy horns. And honestly Matty’s very sleazy vocals that grace this tune wraps things up so nicely. It’s a groovy, slick track that I just really didn’t expect to hear. This is an album full of left turns, you can’t say that The 1975 aren’t branching out their sound. And that group choir surrounding Matty is seriously classy and gives this such a gigantic sound to it. It’s a really great tune. “I Like America & America Likes Me” on the other hand, takes things back in a much electronic direction, which I really don’t mind nearly as much as I thought it would. Like, the beat on this one absolutely booms, and even though Matty’s vocals are drenched with all sorts of Justin Vernon worship, they end up coming off wildly passionate. It’s a fantastic sound. I mean, sure, it’s not as genuinely catchy and Pop-centered as their early stuff. But for me, it’s not as genuinely catchy and Pop-centered as their early stuff. But for me, I’m just so happy to hear Matty and the crew fill out these gigantic shoes that they’ve been trying to fill for years. But oh lord. I’m sorry but everything about “The Man Who Married a Robot / Love Theme” is cringe-worthy and weirder than anything. It’s a spoken word piece about a lonely guy who watches Porn with his computer. No, literally, WITH his computer, and they basically fall in love. No thanks. And if they’re going to go for a sort of ballad, “Inside Your Mind” is much more interesting and passionate. I mean, there are occasionally some seriously cheesy, borderline goofy lyrics. But at the very least there are some genuinely emotional moments here. Personally, I still don’t think this is their forte or even their best sound. But it’s a sweet, endearing ballad. Much more so than “Be My Mistake”.
Now, as corny as it sounds "It’s Not Living If It’s Not With You” hits the spot for me. It has elements of sweet and innocent Pop, it's catchy, it’s larger than life, what more can you ask for? As a matter of fact, while it’s not my favorite single of the bunch, this is probably the easiest one to swallow and a good place to start. The continued use of very lush backing vocals is still really tasteful. And while I haven’t talked about it too much, the production here and for the most part this entire album is pretty spot on. This is incredibly charming. Oh boy but we get another stripped down track with “Surrounded by Heads and Bodies”. And don’t get me wrong, once again I think this comes off better than “Be My Mistake”. And Matty’s performance here is very tender and sweet. But once again, I just sort of feel like this really isn’t their strength. But I actually do like how this one picks up a bit into a more upbeat acoustic ballad. So no, “Surrounded by Heads and Bodies” isn’t bad, but this isn’t where I like hearing them. Now as far as ballads go, “Mine” really steps it up. There’s still a very stripped down feel here. But man, this is just so warm and cozy, and the sort of Jazzy vibes to this somehow really don’t come off bad at all. Not to mention, I feel like of all of the tracks here this is by far the most genuinely mature. Matty here doesn’t come off as some half-stoned millennial. No, he comes off as a young man who's ready to grow up a little. And it’s actually really sweet, and an absolute knockout of a ballad. The jazzy horns, the warm pianos, this is tasteful as hell. Now, “I Couldn’t Be More in Love” is once again, a slow dance of a tune with some serious 80’s flare. Here, we are 14 tracks in, and I’m still getting Bon Iver vibes. And while this track isn’t an absolute knockout or a home run, it’s actually really charming and I certainly wouldn’t mind slow dancing to it. And Matty’s performance here is absolutely flooring, alongside these group vocals once again. I mean, I’ve never been for these slower jams from The 1975, but fuck, this is a solid tune. And this album ends up pulling off a really sweet finale with “I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)”. This one, once again, is a bit of a ballad. But the picked up instrumental makes this one pop just enough. The strings are heavenly, and when those guitars come crashing in for the chorus it’s a pretty euphoric moment. This is just a straight up, nothing fancy fantastic Rock tune that wraps up this album wonderfully. Once again, this is not the sleek, shallow Indie-Pop that they got famous for. And honestly, if you’re obsessed with that sound you may hate this. But this shit is absolutely epic as a finale.
Rating: 8.8/10
Give A Listen To: “Give Yourself a Try”, “How to Draw / Petrichor”, “Love It If We Made It”, “I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)”
Least Favorite Track: “Be My Mistake”
Genre: Indie Rock / Indie Pop / Synth-Pop / Dream Pop
Overall Thoughts : The 1975 return after a bloated and overproduced album with their easiest to take in, yet incredibly adventurous album yet. For years, The 1975 have give themselves massive shoes to fill with insanely catchy Indie Pop anthems, but their issues time and time again have been their studio albums. For the first time, with “A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships”, the 1975 fill those shoes. They’ve come up with a collection of millennial anthems diving deeply into Sex, Drugs and Romance with no fear of how any of it comes off. There’s hectic Synth-Pop, smooth Jazz, Dreamy Pop numbers as well as the instantaneous Indie Pop that made them such a monumental act to begin with. And while after all of these years, I'm not wildly crazy about some of the ballads, this is the first must-listen 1975 album, quote me on it.
No comments:
Post a Comment