The 1975- Being funny in a foreign language track by track review

The 1975 are a band who managed to bridge that difficult gap between indie stardom and breakthrough mainstream success. Their first three albums were excellent, as they went from desire-fuelled indie rock to sleek synth-pop. Helped by Matty Healy's talent to capture contemporary internet, political and social in his lyrics, they became a modern pop outlier.

Their fourth album, Notes On A Conditional Form was overly-pretentious, far too long and mostly committed the cardinal sin of being plain boring at times. It wasn't helped by a media cycle that saw Healy come under increasing pressure for not really thinking before speaking or tweeting. Now, we arrive at Being Funny in a Foreign Language, an album that supposedly sees the band not just back to their best but their best-ever iteration if Healy is to be believed.

We thought we'd take a look at the new album on a track-by-track basis and see if he's chatting more nonsense.

 

The 1975

Every album by The 1975 to date has started with a self-titled track. yet this one is the most fleshed-out to date and full of plenty of "1975-isms" such as Healy being unable to tell if he's got a boner. He openly admits on this track that he spoke before he thought in his 20s, making a start where he sets out a self-aware stall. The track could have been a status update or a notes app apology and it's that interpretation of internet culture that makes The 1975 interesting.

 

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Happiness

Glittery disco-driven guitars make a return here, as The 1975 pack the void full of sleek instrumentals from cushioned piano keys to sound effects that echo the shimmer of disco balls. It's a song that is full of desire and melodramatic want for someone. The interplay of the guitars hits just right and saxophone comes in at all the right moments. Producer extraordinaire Jack Antonoff worked on this record, who has previously worked with Lorde and Clairo. 

The hook here is brilliant, there's so much going on throughout the track that it feels like the kind of song people would write their own stories to.

 

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Looking For Somebody (to love)

A cheery song about school shootings. the old bait and switch between happy instrumentals and lyrics with a darker meaning, it's definitely a song that instantly energises you. Healy has never been one to show restraint in tackling societal issues and this time he's discussing a concept that is so foreign to people from the UK and he's trying to unpack the reasons why these tragedies happen. Whether or not he has any profound analysis is another question.

 

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Part Of The Band

This was the first single from this era and it features some of Healys cringiest and pretentious lyrics to date. "My, my, my cancellation", he mutters in an equally annoying rhythm. "I like my men like I like my coffee, full of soy milk and so sweet" is a lyric that probably should never have been written down. 

 

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Oh Caroline

Here we hear Healy cry out for Caroline, a girl who is always on his mind and who he has done dirty in the past. The piano melody is wonderfully delicate as he makes a plea to be better for someone. It's a standard love song but the power of 1975 is that they get a chorus in your head with such minimal effort.

 

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I'm In Love With You

This is quite simply the best song they've written since the Brief Enquiry album. It has such a stunningly delightful melodic hook and every single element elevates the track. From the shy whispered replies and occasional hollers from the rest of the band members, playing off Healy's vocals to the simple repetition of "I'm in love with you I-I-I-I-I-I-", it is a triumph that works with the simple theme of just being in love.

The video is a call back to the Change Of Heart video, even though the song is a complete flip of it in every way. "Don't fuck it, you muppet", is a particularly funny lyrical moment. 

 

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All I Need To Hear

A gentler track that is centred around the piano, it's as if we are listening in an intimate space. We follow Healy around his home as he sits in awe of someone and is in search of small comforts with them. A song they recorded in one take, it's still hard to hear the imperfections apart from some wild sprawls of the guitar.

 

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Wintering

We're taken on a vocal tangent that takes multiple turns before we're fully immersed in a song that's full of funny anecdotes and character observations. We hear about encounters in the Co-Op, some guy called Bill and John who is obsessed with "that ass". It's easily the funniest track of the album so far.

 

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Human Too

A more tender moment, that sees vocals distorted into echoes in the background as if the track was haunted. The track is well produced but ultimately it isn't one of the more memorable moments from the album. 

 

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About You

A track that slowly stirs into life and feels as if it lifts you gradually off your feet. The band highlight this song as a natural continuation of Robbers, one of the best tracks from their debut. There is a really monochromatic sense of beauty found here and it exemplifies what this album gets right, despite all of the clever, memorable lyrics and cultural references, it is simply a love story at heart.

Having that at the centre grounds the album in a world of its own and allows The 1975 to create beautiful songs like this.

 

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When We Are Together

A song situated in America, we hear about this character's first kiss amongst a backdrop that pulls from folk with the string section. With "The day we both got cancelled because I'm some sort of racist and you're a slag", we see Healy entering cultural commentary yet again. A complicated love story that ultimately relies on a couple needing to be together.

 

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Ultimately, The 1975 are back, much to the dismay of Stone Island jacket wearers across the world. This probably isn't their best iteration to date but it's pretty damn good. They have come back with renewed clarity, with Healy offering, for the most part, some inspired lyrics. Being Funny in a Funny Language is a concise album that centres around love and the idiosyncratic nature of the band's frontman.

 

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