The 1975 are back with their new album Being Funny In A Foreign Language which was recorded in England and the United States. Although the record nods back to their earlier work, it is clear that they have progressed greatly since their early days and the quality of musicianship and more importantly, songwriting really shines through on this, their fifth studio offering.
Highlights from the record for us included ‘Happiness’ which accurately reflects the musical tone of a lot of their previous work. With an almost synthetic 80s pop sound, the tune has a catchiness to it that could be seen as both fun but infuriating at the same time. It caries a danceable feel-good vibe and mimics the theme of ‘happiness’ perfectly, yet seems to imitate previous work showing little creative progression or added excitement to boot.
Following ‘Happiness’ is ‘Looking for Somebody to Love’; the album flows on to this track smoothly in terms of sound, but thematically is a stark contrast. While it has similar pop sound, with a slight added aggression, ‘Looking for Somebody to Love’ explores the connection between toxic masculinity and love. It’s not unfamiliar to see ‘The 1975’ playing around with irony both in their lyricism but also between the sound and content of their music- yet with the upbeat nature of this track, it’s almost easy to miss the darker themes that it is striving to get across to the listener. Despite the synthetic, catchy beat; the song reaches the conclusion that the behaviour exhibited as a result of entitled toxic masculinity is simply a cry for love. A conclusion which is somewhat underwhelming and excusatory.
With dirty jokes and analytical observations about western culture, ‘Part of the Band’ offers a self-aware yet self-depreciating look on the band and the world around them. Known for their musical experimentation and Matty Healy’s witty and somewhat odd lyricism- this track lives up to expectation set by past albums. There is an underlying folk tone to the track and is the most orchestral song from the album; an element which arguably is due to the influence of producer Jack Antonoff. The lyricism of the song perfectly matches the title, by exploring all things that seem to be the core of the band- self-awareness, ego, cultural cancellations, sex and current culture (particularly of the youth).
So to sum up, whilst Being Funny in a Foreign Language ticks all the boxes to make it an album that will sell by the bucketload to the ‘yoof’ of today, I couldn’t help feeling that they have somehow regressed to an earlier stage in their career, which is by no means a bad thing. It would have been nice to see them take a few more risks in their musical experimentation on this record. Then again, if it ain’t broke, why fix it?
Review by Brianna Williams
