Written by Tom Bedding
Yep. I went there.
20) Falling For You- IV EP
The 1975’s early years was enriched with teen romance and feeling so incredibly over the top in its desire. The fan favourite really takes this motive to a beautiful and pure state, feeling so bare in terms of its intentions and venerable nature, with its lyrics and drum beat. It really takes you back to the essence of the band, especially with its original sentiment, wanting to narrate the teen experience for its fan base. The stripped back synth production is extremely effective, while Matty’s mumbled vocals capture the tone and context of falling for someone for the first time so so well.
19) Frail State of Mind- Notes On A Conditional Form
Despite the album being a vast collection of songs and leaving some to question it, the bands fourth album really showed off how they’v exquisitely broaden their songwriting palette. ‘Frail State of Mind’ is the pinnacle of that success, showing off that their talents can now, allow them to stamp their own mark on broader styles of music.
The UK garage meets slight trap beat cut is a tremendous single, focusing on the entire state of mental health from a personal and wider perspective. Matty Healy’s lyrics are brilliant throughout, telling us small little snippets of when ones mental health can impact life and then finishes by profoundly and honesty telling us, don’t hide behind your frail state of mind.
18) Medicine- Medicine
From the word go, The 1975 take us to somewhere magical with the beautiful production and the dramatic instrumentation, ranging from the guitars to the wonderful percussion choices. ‘Medicine’ seems to be a great example of what the Manchester band have always strived for, romanticising over the overindulging nature of passion and truth.
Fans of the band die at the start of the second verse due to the impactful lyrics of, ‘I, I wanna marry you, said I adore you’.... it packs such an emotive punch and sums up the entire track well. Matty has confessed that the song was in ode to his addiction to drugs, which really should not take away the purer interpretation, that many have for this standalone single.
17) Me & You Together Song- Notes On A Conditional Form
Notes had a lead up that felt triumph and glorious, offering us with singles that felt like a victory lap for the successful decade the band had in the 2010’s. When we were given ‘Me & You Together Song’, the state of pure joy and playfulness of the song, brought a smile to so many people.
The innocence found in this track just touches your heart and soul so much, its unforgiving in its intentions. It has a blend of UK guitar boy-band nuances and the shoe gaze genre, with lyrics telling us a whole situation of the infatuation we have for a romantic story (especially our own). From the pretty guitars to the pure harmonies deep within the mix, the wave of joy that hits you, is non stop and seems to be a great celebration of the capabilities of The 1975.
16) Girls- The 1975
‘Girls’ is probably the embodiment of the situation The 1975 found themselves after reaching number 1 with their debut album, however it can not be disputed how CATCHY this single is. Straight away the overindulging indie pop song leaves you bopping along, making you want to sway your hair around and act like the bands frontman, while signing along to the engaging lyrics.
Its drumming and guitar captures your imagination, with it feeling like a must need moment for their live shows (even if Matty may disagree on it from time to time). Yes, it may of been overplayed and many token fans took ahold of it but it is just pure delight! It truly deserves so much credit and fair play to Matty, George, Adam and Ross on this one.
15) The Sound- I Like It When You Sleep….
Apparently the single was offered to the mighty One Direction when said bands team, only wanted to snoop around their state of songwriting at the time. It is a blessing that it stayed with The 1975 and them taking a brave step to release such a radio friendly and pure pop track.
‘The Sound’ takes you away to a place where you feel so unashamed in the basic nature of pop music but it is crafted so well to feel fresh, edgy but insanely accessible. The synths deep within mix are very underrated, creating such a colourful and textured background for the vocals and simple piano chords, to grab your attention and send you dancing like a mad person. It is relentless with regards to it building up to the big finale (which includes a top notch guitar solo) and has now become a fantastic moment live, when everyone goes crazy for Adam Hann shredding it on lead guitar.
14) If You’re Too Shy (Then Let Me Know)- Notes On A Conditional Form
The 1975 played this song live before releasing it and the view count of the amateur footage, skyrocketed and become a fan favourite instantly. So when it was finally released, the song became the highest charting single for the four piece and managed to make its way to commercial radio, a feat that many ‘guitar’ bands rarely get close to.
The song itself if a mix of two ideas, leading to the effective time change from the verse and chorus, which reinforces how captivating the singalong nature of the song is. Its lyrics are interesting to say the least but the guitars, sax and synth pattern are 80’s infused and a pop delight, leaving the fourth album to have one of the bands biggest singles ever.
13) A Change Of Heart- I Like It When You Sleep
The synth pop single follows the story of falling out of love with someone, who may not a be a great person, while feeling sentimental over the bad traits of the individual. Matty’s lyrics and story telling shines so much throughout the song, with the bands collective work, creating a beautiful and tranquil setting for the frontman to croon over.
One of the many stunning traits of ‘I Like It When You Sleep..’ is how it can leave you both wanting to cry and dance to such an extreme and this song is a fine example of it. We go from lyrics of ‘your eyes were full of regret, then you took a picture of your salad and put it on the internet’ to such an engaging closing segment, filled with lush synth sounds and an effective guitar part, wanting you to dance your way out of being so emotional.
12) Mine- A Brief Inquiry Onto Online Relationships
‘Mine’ was birthed from Matty and George coming together with ideas, that they created separately, but seemed to fit so perfectly...a great tale to sum up how this song comes from a period, that feels like the pinnacle of the duos songwriting partnership.
When we arrive to the song on the album, we are swept away to a beautiful and sophisticated place with the bands singer, sounding so pure and wonderful. The lyrics penned down are about the devotion to your partner, even if marriage is not on your mind, Matty is still declaring his love and how he just wants his lover to be his. George Daniel’s production on this song is flawless, the flourishing nature of the instrumentation backs up the warmth nature of the song. We also find one of the bands best melodies here, its amazing.
11) Give Yourself A Try- A Brief Inquiry Onto Online Relationships
The lead single from The 1975’s third album smacked everyone in the face with its production and Joy Division nod. Adam Hann plays a piercing guitar line that is very reminiscent of the song, ‘Disorder’, and the rhythm section gives the track such urgency and drive to the whole affair.
Matty sings honestly about the simple statement of giving life a go and not letting setbacks, hinder your chance of making most of life. The standout lyrics off this LP, comes from this song, ‘I found a grey hair in one of my zoots, Like context in a modern debate I just took it out’. It is so humorous and a fantastic little remark about the modern world we live in today.
10) People- Notes On A Conditional Form
Again another lead single that blew everyone away, which so happened to of come out the day before the lads, headlined Reading Festival. Possibly the heaviest song The 1975 have put out, it just explodes into this frenzy of ‘its the end of the world’ to wanting to get peoples attention about what’s going wrong in the world.
The punk attitude is obvious, with the screamy vocal delivery giving us even more context to the lyrics and reinforces how catastrophic the state of humanity is in. I am really surprised the guitars are not spoken about as much in terms of its stoner rock qualities to it, the groove and the playing during the second verse in particular feels very stoner rock like.
‘People’ feels ferocious and bad arse all the way through, with the bass being so deep and the drumming really kicking everything along in such angsty fashion. Overall, the group managed to put a song together that would have made haters say ‘fair play’ and also capture the terror that so many, have felt during the last couple of years.
9) It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You)- A Brief Inquiry Onto Online Relationships
‘Its Not Living..’ had a great response upon its proper release and then single release, including a fan favourite backing vocal line of ‘selling petrol’. Originally the song was a slight gothic pop instrumental that George had made up before the band collectively, brought to life its charm.
Lyrically, the song tells the story of a character, Danny (based on Matty), struggling with addiction and offering us moments ,of how his love of drugs impacts his day to day life. This single felt like it brought together all the bells and whistles The 1975 have in their arsenal but coated by Daniel’s improved production work. It shines so magically and epically to a scale that is worthy of the biggest of crowds.
8) Sex- The 1975
Originally from Drive A Like I Do, the song was brought into being a track for the bands self titled debut and my god, thank the lord it was. The driving nature of the lead guitar is angsty and catchy, setting the scene for this wild and youthful sounding song. For me, it was important that the group did not leave their guitar roots entirely when becoming The 1975, it would have left them in a very weak place, if they did not utilise songs like ’Sex’.
The lyrics are very juvenile but they make you want to belt out ‘she’s got a boyfriend anyway’ and chant out the epic sounding guitar solo, that takes this song to such an incredible level…its just a mega tune right?
7) Sincerity Is Scary- A Brief Inquiry Onto Online Relationships
I will never forget listening to this song for the first time, walking through North London and hearing it being played for the first time, on Zane Lowe’s Apple Music show!
The Neo-soul/jazz single, sees the band pushing themselves stylistically and crafting a number that feels so honest and perfect in every single way. The drummer, George Daniel, takes an unorthodox approach to the hip hop like beat with his drumming, causing the song to feel off the mark in a very effective manner.
Matty questions the sincerity of postmodernism and the authenticity of a girl, who is very contradictory. It is a brilliant take down on the crisis society finds itself in, with how twisted people’s attempts of being sincere can be, offering some amazing lines like ‘why you would believe you could control how you’re perceived, when at you’re best, your intermediately versed in your own feelings’. Also you can forget how iconic the rabbit hate was.
6) Love Me- I Like It When You Sleep…
The progression we saw when The 1975 began the era of their second record was immense. Here is a song that set a standard that we now expect from the band, it is so much fun and the songwriting is wacky but sophisticated.
Hann's riff is amazing, capturing the bombastic tone of the songs intentions and the cliche sounding solo, sums up the irony of the songs lyrics. Healy laughs at himself and others with regards to ego, obsession with fame and feeling like you matter in a superficial way. ‘Love Me’ includes some well crafted, Duran Duran like harmonies that contributes to its obvious 80’s inspiration of said band and David Bowie.
‘I Like It When You Sleep’ looks at ego a lot and its lead single does to that to the max with its mocking and overindulging word play.
5) Robbers- The 1975
Probably the song that sums up the self titled the best, teen romance and way too dramatic for us to deal with.The guitar feels ICONIC and is the Gen Z ‘mockingjay’ call for sure, it taps into a place of emotion and hope.
The songs story follows two lovers, who are not good for each other, dealing with their feeling of needing each other and wanting to do anything to make the romance work…even performing a robbery together, funnily enough (also inspired by the film True Romance). At the bands live shows, the crowd take centre stage at all times during this song, with the ‘give me more one time’ and ‘now everybody is dead’ being truly outstanding moments at every single show The 1975 do.
4) Somebody Else- I Like It When You Sleep
Do people talk about how much this song has inspired so many artists, enough? No. Both Hayley Williams and Lorde have claimed that this song played a huge part in their inspiration for the Paramore album ‘After Laughter’ and Lorde’s,’Melodrama’.
Tackling he hardship and selfishness of not wanting to see a past lover with another person, the song really hits a nerve that some won’t want to talk about out loud. The entire sound and production of the song is spectacular and dramatic, offering us a mellow beat to dance to but then still gripping us with such painful desire.
Matty sings in the best way possible to enhance the songs tone and emotion, he really does croon a bit at times on ‘I Like It When You Sleep’ doesn't he. Again, the way The 1975 leave you both on your knees in emotional disarray and needing to dance to your hearts content, especially when that guitar kicks in!!!
3) I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)- A Brief Inquiry Onto Relationships
Some people do struggle with the overindulging songwriting from this acclaimed band, a situation most have with a whole variety of music and songwriters. However the closing song of ‘A Brief Inquiry’ felt like a surprise moment from Matty and co., deciding to let the song blossom on its accord, not curating it to be ‘1975’ song.
The very British sounding song is dramatic, stunning and emotional with its vocals, production and melody. We are given a very timid Matty at first, who is singing about the sentiment of ‘I want to die’ and then profoundly telling his audience, it is okay because we all feel like we want to die, sometimes.
It really makes an impact and the realism of its delivery and production, helps reinforce the message the song has. I could go on forever on how outstanding the song is, it feels classic and passionate to the extent that I find it to be so important for myself and many others.
2) Chocolate- The 1975
Yep, I know. Some won’t like this decision. But. There are valid reasons for why this song is held in such regard, by the public and me.
The gigantic and impressive single off the self titled album, has played a huge part in the bands rise to success, offering us with a truly catchy and impressive guitar hook. It is indie rock/pop bliss, giving us some cliche vocals by Matty and an insanely catchy melody, that nearly every single person on this planet will enjoy.
Who cares that is based around the hook constantly? The way the band have utilised creating something like that is impressive, it feels classic and a song that embodies the time it came out. 'Chocolate' will forever be a great closer for the live shows and any event that has people who remotely appreciates guitar music! Its also just so funny that so many people think its about actual chocolate.
1) Love It If We Made It- A Brief Inquiry Onto Online Relationships
Possibly one of the finest contemporary songs this century, it is done brilliantly and again the band captured the tone of our time so well. It is bizarre and also frightening that the lyrics are not stating an opinion at anytime, we are just given statements and quotes on/from civil rights, a disgusting US President, Kayne West and the perception, that the younger generation has on the climate of the world.
George had the basis of the instrumentation for a while before the band began to tackle the song, with Matty deciding to take words from the news to create a song to take down and put into a song, how shit our world can be. The beginning synth part creates such a tension before the bellowing of ‘FUCKING IN A CAR’ and the reciting the state of the late 2010’s.
‘Modernity has failed, and I love it if we made it’ is the mantra of the song and keeps coming back to us before the groovy lift off, with the instrumentation before the middle eight. ‘Love It If We Made It’ is an incredible piece of art that brilliantly notes what state humanity has been in, over the last few years and will leave us all screaming and....dancing all night long.
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