The 1975 has been known for creating music revolving around love, and not just between two people. A love for drugs, alcohol, money and fame have been themes that lead singer Matty Healy has sung about in the past, especially on their 2013 debut album, “The 1975,” and its 2016 follow-up, “I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It,” but this time around, it seems like something has changed.
“Being Funny In a Foreign Language,” the band’s fifth album, is a project focused on separating themselves from the naivety, comedy and fantasy of their past work. Working with famous producer Jack Antonoff, The 1975 seem to have resorted back to the simplicity found within their older works, stripping away screaming wails and electrified synths to make an album that is more grown up.
At a run-time of only 44 minutes, a rare occurrence for the band, Healy and his bandmates are more hopeful, unlike the warning, urgent tones found on their last two albums. Even though Healy is known for being a controversial lead singer, usually heard lamenting about society’s failures and the people who contribute to them on social media, it seems he’s had a change of heart (no pun intended).
In a recent interview with The New York Times, Healy claimed that he is, for once, being sincere on “Being Funny In a Foreign Language,” saying, “One could criticize me for loads of things, but you can’t criticize me for being insincere. Annoying, whatever. But I’m not insincere.”
The album centers around the theme that love is sacred, a feeling that can’t be replicated once you fall deep and fast. It’s clear in songs like “Happiness” and “I’m In Love With You”, both of which talk about being smitten with someone. These songs are pure joy to listen to, making you want to get up, dance and hug or kiss the person you love. They call for celebration, especially now as we enter a post-pandemic world.
Another standout is within the opening track, a symbol on every album from The 1975, usually with the same lyrics: “Go down / Soft sound / Midnight / Car lights / Playing with the air / Breathing in your hair / Go down / Soft sound / Step into your skin? / I'd rather jump in your bones / Taking up your mouth, so you breathe through your nose.” Yet, this introduction is completely different, a sign that the band is entering a new era of adulthood, starting a new chapter within their sound.
The new opener is simply gorgeous, with a banging piano and rushed sound of strings falling in line with Healy’s vocals. The main point the singer makes throughout the entirety of the song, “I’m sorry if you’re living and you’re 17,” is a subtle reference to the current state society is in, most likely calling out the political and environmental climate the world is facing. Yet, Healy also reflects on his mistakes throughout his 20s and feels as though those who are now about to enter these years should brace themselves for the roller coaster falling in and out of love can take one on.
Although many of the standouts on this album help hold it together, there are a few sour notes that dampen the overall cohesiveness. For example, songs such as “Human Too” and “When We Are Together” are just too slow, dragging out the themes of being in love to too much of an extent. With the latter, the album doesn’t end on anything special, almost as if the magic within the first half of the album has disappeared.
Although, there are also notable mentions such as “Oh Caroline” and “About You.” The first of the two is a sweet and simple track, with Healy’s vocals sounding like they’ve been sampled from a pop song of the 1980s. Comparing the subject, a love interest named Caroline, to his struggles with drug and alcohol use, creates the idea that the singer is addicted to this person, much like he used to be to life-altering substances.
Meanwhile, “About You” is an interesting companion to one of The 1975’s most iconic songs, “Robbers.” With an introduction quite similar to the 2013 ballad, this new track has the same intense and poetic lyricism, evident with lines such as “I know a place / It's somewhere I go when I need to remember your face / We get married in our heads / Something to do while we try to recall how we met.” Overall, the track is Healy confessing that even though he’s single, he’s clearly not over a relationship that may have had the potential to be something great.
All in all, “Being Funny In a Foreign Language” is a much different sound for The 1975. While poetic and light-hearted, poignant with a touch of cynicism, this new album is definitely a project fans will have to listen to over and over again to really understand its full meaning. With some ups and downs sprinkled throughout, it’s still a strong release by the band, likely to grow in significance throughout the next several months.
Ranking: 4/5
