Back at the second night of their four sold out dates in Glasgow’s O2 Academy, I noticed the fans themselves were a friendly bunch too. Several people offer to swap places so another person could get a better view. It’s something that really stood out in an industry where bulk buying tickets and reselling them for often more than double face value is the norm.
The fans at The 1975’s gigs are all just that – fans. The room always seems as if it’s full of people who are there to genuinely appreciate the band and their music. It’s evident from the fact that the vast majority knows every word to every song – from their biggest hits like Chocolate and Girls to lesser-known EP tracks like Anobrain and You.
This is important because the atmosphere is what makes or breaks a show. Even lead singer Matt Healy, he of charismatic curly haired gawkiness, would probably find it a bit difficult to play to a crowd which merely stood there motionless.
That, thankfully, rarely happens at their shows, and this tour is no different. Splicing tracks from across their discography – their debut self titled album and recent chart topping follow up I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It, as well as tracks off their various EPs – the band manage to seamlessly flow between styles. Poppy, up-tempo songs like The Sound don’t sound out of place on a set list featuring brooding ballads such as Me and A Change Of Heart.
In Glasgow listening to The Blue Nile and it's peng
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Part of what sets The 1975 apart from the rest is Healy and his undeniable stage presence. He’s reminiscent of a time when bands had actual front men who were characters, rather than just a pretty face used as a marketing tool. Also, he’s got some frolic locks– I’m going to call it the fifth member of the band beside Healy, guitarist Adam Hann, bassist Ross MacDonald and drummer George Daniel, who cannot be faulted on their live performances.
After an encore that went from gospel influenced new album track If I Believe You to their first big hit Chocolate, the band moved onto two of their best tracks. The already incredibly enthusiastic crowd showed even more appreciation for the absolute belter that is The Sound, and then closing on a storming rendition of Sex, the band managed to round off what felt like an almost two hour long listening party on an incredible high.
As for the brand new album itself, let’s be honest, the title is a bit clunky. Take a deep breath before you address the 15-word novella that is: “I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It.”
Even shortened to an acronym – ILIWYSFYABYSUOI – it’s still insanely lengthy and possibly the worst letters you could ever get in a game of Scrabble.
Once you accept that it’s incredibly pretentious, the band’s mighty second album is unpredictable, vast and expressive. It acts as a sequel to their debut, the self titled – and a lot easier to say – The 1975. It’s the musical equivalent of not judging a book by its cover. Don’t judge an album by its ridiculous name.
The poppy She’s American sounds like a distant cousin of She Way Out and Settle Down, two of the debut album’s more upbeat tracks. A Change Of Heart’s lyrics call back to Robbers and The City’s “if you wanna find love then you know where the city is” is reinvented, somewhat nostalgically as “I never found love in the city.”
Formulaic lyrics are incredibly common in current pop music – how many songs are there about “being in the club”? The 1975 may be making increasingly more poppy material, but they’ll never have bland and boring lyrics. Can you imagine Jason Derulo crooning about how he’s the “Greek economy of cashing intellectual cheques”? – another ludicrous lyric, this time from Loving Someone.
The album draws inspiration from a range of different artists and genres. Love Me, the album’s first single, is pure David Bowie, circa Fame. A gospel choir backs If I Believe You, Lostmyhead sounds like M83 and The Ballad of Me and My Brain is almost stadium rock.
This wide range of influences makes the album arguably not as accessible to their mostly teenage fan base. Whether they like it or not, The 1975 inspire One Direction levels of hysteria amongst their fans. This album however, is erratic, experimental and jumps between genres.
Not many bands bound onto the scene with an established aesthetic and sound. Their debut album, with sombre lyrics and black and white music videos, represented who they are. Now, we have girlish pink aesthetics and the same distinctive sound with an experimental twist – it shows who they’ve become.
By Lorna Mckenzie
Photos courtesy of The 1975 – Facebook
