By Luke Frantz, Nov. 8, 2022
After The 1975’s 2020 album “Notes on a Conditional Form” left fans disappointed, a return to their old success was needed for the iconic band. Luckily for fans, on Oct. 14 the band officially released a brand-new album titled “Being Funny in a Foreign Language” This album brought a new sound while still giving fans that old nostalgic feeling of albums past.
The 1975 has a unique sound, that brings nostalgic feels of old ‘70s and ‘80s music and also manages to bring forth sounds of the modern alternative scene and this album is no different.
The opening of the album is a self-titled track “The 1975” and it does a great job of setting the tone for the album. With a heavy focus on the piano and strings throughout the song, the lyrics give an image of the current state of disarray the world is in.
The second track “Happiness” is one of the singles released before the album as well as the most commercially successful song off the album so far. This song brings much of the classic sound that fans have come to love. In this catchy love song, Matty Healy sings lyrics about the joy he finds in a romantic relationship accompanied by an upbeat instrumental.
The third song on the album “Looking For Somebody (To Love)” is a song that has what most call lyrical dissonance. This is a phenomenon where the instrumental to a song is happy and upbeat and the lyrics are the opposite. This song has an incredibly upbeat instrumental playing behind Matty’s lyrics that depict a man carrying out a school shooting, The 1975 has made some controversial songs in the past and this can be added to that list.
“I’m In Love With You” is the sixth track on the album and sounds quite like the songs of The 1975’s past hit songs like “Girls” or “It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You) . It is an upbeat song with lively lyrics and a catchy hook that is sure to get listeners up and dancing.
The song “Part Of The Band” is a song that, unfortunately, falls short of the rest of the album. The 1975 has never strayed from experimental sounds in their songs, this one repeatedly changes tone during the song, and begins to overwhelm listeners.
The ninth song on the album titled “Human Too” brings the pace down from the previous upbeat songs on the album, something that is not uncommon for the band. The soft instrumental accompanies lyrics depicting being human and making mistakes and how that is normal because everyone does it.
The final track on the album “When We Are Together” is a beautiful and well-crafted song that adds the perfect cherry on top to this incredible album. The song is a slower instrumental that leans heavily on the use of acoustic guitar. Matty Healy’s unorthodox love lyrics make this song what it is, as it sounds like a love song but throughout, he is voicing his frustrations with the relationship and says that the only time he feels better is when they are together.
From top to bottom, this album is phenomenal and shows so much of The 1975’s strengths and almost none of their weaknesses as a band. The instrumentals are incredible; and the lyrics and vocal performances from lead man Matty Healy are the best he has done in years.
Rather than feeling like a sequel to their last album, the band wanted “Being Funny In a Foreign Language” to be its own unique album and they accomplished that. The 1975 has never strayed from trying new sounds and this album was no different. Even though some fell short of expectations, the track list was beautiful and the band once again finds themselves on top of the alternative music scene.
Feature image courtesy of Lauren Wong