The indie rockers release an ambitious and electrifying encore to their harrowing debut
Rating: *****
Tracklist:
1. The 1975
2. UGH!
3. Love Me
4. A Change of Heart
5. She's American
6. If I Believe You
7. Please Be Naked
8. Lostmyhead
9. The Ballad of Me and my Brain
10. Somebody Else
11. Loving Someone
12. I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it
13. The Sound
14. This Must Be My Dream
15. Paris
16. Nana
17. She Lays Down
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The 1975's 2013 self-titled debut album put their names out there in the indie rock scene. It established the four piece as a band with an extremely dark aesthetic. Now, two years on, the band have reinvented themselves, turned their black album cover bright pink and made a pop album so artistic and moving, it has turned them from a one trick pony band into a band with all kinds of dimensions, experimenting with pieces of every genre to create something truly wonderful.
Take the album as an architectural miracle. The exterior of the works being this bubblegum pink imagery - sweet, angelic, almost uplifting - displayed in their radio releases such as Love Me and UGH! The interior - a dark yet in parts incredibly truthful depiction of everyday struggles, addictions and heartbreaks, illustrated through the elaborate mind of lead singer Matty Healy.
Something that has remained with The 1975 during this transition is lyrics about drugs, high love and heartbreak. Yet, for some reason, this album makes it seem a lot more romantic and poetic. A good proportion of the songs have some sort of story or monologue to them. The kaleidoscopic track Paris tells the story of a group of runaways escaping to a lustrous city, the french capital, Paris - whether they are actually referring to Paris or is using it as a metaphor because the lifestyle portrayed is anything but romantic is something we may never find out. I let your minds ponder on that for a moment or two.
She Lays Down, a song about a depressed woman trapped in the clasp of reality in a love she desperately wants to hold but can't due to her mental state, has a raw and gritty sound, with lyrics so dark that they make you feel the deepest empathy for the song's antagonist.
There are many songs that need nothing but your own interpretations to analyse. They say that music is an art form, and this album stays very true to this thesis.
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