Two years after the release of their last record, Notes on a Conditional Form, The 1975 are back with a brand new record Being Funny in a Foreign Language accompanied by a slew of tour dates over the next year or so. They've marketed it as 'The 1975 at their very best!' and in the wake of this record, no one can deny it. Here's my track by track breakdown and review of Being Funny in a Foreign Language.
The 1975 - As far as the self titled tracks go in the entirety of The 1975's recording history, this one has to be the best. They always aim to reflect the context their in with these opening tracks, and what they seem to be touching on is the corruption of the youth in the current political and social climate. Touching on double standards in the beauty industry, body image, and prescription medication to name a few. It feels more cohesive than any other opener, and is undeniably catchy, with smooth vocals over a repeated piano part. Beautiful opener here, and perfectly starts this powerhouse of a record.
Happiness - The tone of this song really helps set the mood of this record as a whole. Instead of being a more angsty piece focused on society, this is the capturing of key moments from across The 1975's discography. Happiness proves this with an awesome synth pop vibe to a song about, at it's core, letting someone bring out the best with you. Sonically the instrumentation is perfect, and creates a beautifully jazzy vibe to this song that's bought out more by Matty Healey's vocal delivery. If any track was going to start this album it was Happiness, unafraid to move away from their previous work and create a song about love that wont leave you feeling melancholy.
Looking for Somebody (To Love) - This jazzy track, full of bright surf guitar and seemingly joyful overtones juxtaposes the tracks grim subject matter. This song is all about school shootings, and how lead singer and songwriter Matty Healey can't completely comprehend them in a British context. A commentary on incel culture and violence as a whole, the song strangely humanises it's focal character, claiming their simply looking for love, but wrenches you back with the line 'somebody's lying on the field'. This duality guised in once again stunning sonics creates a perfectly catchy track commenting on something you wouldn't want to go shouting about.
Part of the Band - This song is Matty Healey at his most pretentious, and arguably most experimental in this record. Part of the Band is a song containing lots of different themes jumbled together into a stream of consciousness, detailing drug abuse, self deprecation and sarcastic takes on society as a whole. This song is so different to anything else on this record, and for good reason, it varies itself through sound and vocal delivery, and creates a sensory experience through the character Matty Healey likes to play onstage. A petty and up themselves character frantically running through modern culture, with their only defining factor being that they're 'a part of the band'. In all fairness if i was in The 1975, I wouldn't stop talking about it either.
Oh Caroline - Now, this little anthemic pop song is a secretly dark one about devotion and longing, to the nth degree. The speaker here really is head over heels for this Caroline, who they beg again and again to 'decide for me'. This song takes an odd turn as it calls the speaker a 'cuck', maybe connoting they lost this Caroline and hate thinking about them with someone else, and are still so connected they feel as if they're being 'cucked', or it could simply be another dive into sexual habits almost commonplace in The 1975's discography. This song feels weirdly universal, that Caroline could be anyone to anyone, and that real human connection is something people will do anything for. Forgetting the themes, this track is so unbelievably catchy, and once again sonically is perfectly complex in a way only this band can be. Another certified anthem from this record.
I'm in Love with You - We're back on the happiness here with this track, with this track echoing the brilliant Change of Heart, with matching imagery in the music video for this one. It's yet again a catchy song that gets you singing the repeated chorus over and over, with a brilliant bridge that feels extremely sincere, 'Don't fuck it you muppet!' that feels both honest and quintessentially British. According to Healey himself, this song was about a real relationship. He said, on a reply on genius about this song 'At the time, I was in a relationship with a Black girl who was so beautiful, and I was in love with, and there were all these things that came up—especially with the political climate over the last two years—that you can only really learn from experience and living together.' This song has such an air of naivety to it unlike any of the cynical tracks we know and love from this band, and is a really fresh take on love. I love this track. (See what I did there?)
All I Need to Hear - A brilliantly stripped back ballad on love once again, All I Need to Hear was written to sound like a cover song, which Healey claimed was the biggest compliment he could ever receive on a song. Performed during Pheobe Bridger's tour before BFIAFL was announced, this track is a look into yet another snapshot of a feeling, looping round back to Somebody Else, a song very different to this one in the themes of reliance on music in the absence of love. It's a short song but a beautifully raw, one take song that adds a softness after the consecutive pop tracks from the opening and sets the tone for the second half of the record.
Wintering - If you're bored of Christmas music, this song is for you. Written as a snapshot of a real Christmas, unidealized and comedic. It completely turns on it's head the representation in the modern media that Christmas is a time for confrontation between family, for arguments and plans gone wrong. This song details in brevity the intimate vignettes of Christmas at the Healey's, and that's where this song shines. It's a really nice little track, with some sparkly guitar and great composition making a wonderfully rounded little track.
Human Too - If this tour is The 1975 at their very best, this song is them at their most venerable. Here, Matty lays bare his insecurities and his shortcomings, apologizing for 'the bomb thing' that briefly got him in the news when Notes on a Conditional Form came out, where a music video depicted him blowing himself up with a suicide vest. It's a lovely heartfelt apology, along with a plea that he's only 'human' and therefore makes some mistakes like the rest of us. It's a subtle comment on cancel culture, and beautifully balanced, and makes me think a lot of Be my Mistake or Frail State of Mind.
About You - This song is a second part to Robbers. I don't care what anyone says, but the songs ring out sonically so perfectly together as continuations, it can't be a coincidence. It even deals with some of the themes from A Brief Enquiry into Online Relationships. The moody strings and major key makes this gothic piece feel oddly violent even through it's calming qualities, and also denotes more romance, a feeling of personal connection through and after love. It's a complex and multifaceted song that has amazing scope, and explores the theme of love once again, and creates a brilliantly orchestral yet grounded sound that's really lovely.
When we are Together - The final song on this record is my favourite on this album. Focusing on the idiosyncracies that make you fall in love, When we are Together is another intimate snapshot about love and its complexity. It touches on so much, cancel culture, sex, gaslighting and other modern themes you wouldn't expect in a love song. It's another dive into Healey's love life, made all the more tragic by the fact that now, as I write this, the relationship he was in is now over. According to Genius 'When he finished recording “When We Are Together”, Healy claims his body went slack, and he didn’t listen to it, instead opting to go home.' The song tracks the building and then breakdown of an emotional relationship, and closes the album on a moody note, but perfectly ends the record on a mood well known to all other projects by the band. You're left thinking, and that is the perfect thing a record can do (in my opinion).
(The 1975 - Photo by Samuel Bradley)
Overall - This record is by far my favourite 1975 record to date. Vulnerable and catchy, this record isn't afraid to push the bar, and also stay where the band flourish most. Every single band member flourishes on Being Funny in a Foreign Language, especially Matty Healey who comes across perfectly, changing his vocal delivery with each song and giving his own perfect vocal idiosyncrasy to each perfect sonic delivery. Every track feels different and unique, and creates a rounded album that I'll be listening to for years to come. Just when you think they can't get any better, here they are, at their very best.
Rating: 10/10
Highlights - The 1975, Happiness, Oh Caroline, I'm In Love With You, Wintering, When we are Together
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