Matty Healy is a rock star for a generation that’s too clued-in to believe in rock stars.
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“The manicness seems to resonate with people, because they know how it feels to be like…” He struggles to sum up the generational condition. Healy agrees that his radical honesty about his own anxiety might be the key to the fervor of The 1975’s fan base. “That’s why I was a good drug addict, because it used to stop me being like that.” This earnest craving to be understood creates a sense of intimacy disproportionate to the fact that we’ve only just met. He has the helter-skelter intelligence of an autodidact, name-dropping Debord and Dostoevsky, and accidentally inventing words like “dissolvement.” His brain swerves between extremes of self-belief and self-doubt, so it’s hard to keep up with all the qualifications, revisions, digressions and apologies as he tries to crystallize what he means. The 1975: Photos From the Billboard Cover Shoot Because I knew that one more time and that’s it.” “The fact that I knew I was building on something that wasn’t destroying made me feel really strong. “People had started to lose respect for me, but not an irredeemable amount,” he says, running his hands through his scruffy, half-peroxided hair. The singer spent seven weeks at a rehab clinic in Barbados in November and December and has been clean since then. Healy says his habit was the first time a secret ever came between them. So I went downstairs and told George I should go to rehab.” Daniel is the band’s production whiz and Healy’s closest friend they live virtually next door to each other in east London. “I realized that was absolute fucking bullshit. If you want songs, we’re just going to have to get on with it.” The next morning, he woke up mortified. As the title implies, it may take the 1975 a while to get to the point on I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It, but when they do, the results are revelatory.Healy winces and inhales a Marlboro Light as he paraphrases what he said: “Listen, everyone has to get onboard because I’m the fucking main deal. Ultimately, however, it's that uncompromising mix of POP (in capitalize letters) and inventive, exploratory musicianship that help make it such a rewarding listen. And given the poetic, atmospheric nature of many of the songs, it's somewhat unwieldy in one sitting. Admittedly, at 17 tracks, I Like It When You Sleep is long. It's a vibe that reaches an apex on the yearning, mid-album slow-jam, "If I Believe You," which also happens to feature a gorgeously rendered flügelhorn solo from jazz star and longtime D'Angelo collaborator Roy Hargrove.Įlsewhere, in keeping with the overall '80s adult contemporary sound, tracks like the shimmeringly moody "Somebody Else" and the sweetly romantic "Paris," bring to mind Tango in the Night-era Fleetwood Mac. In fact, there's a palpable R&B inclination running through much of I Like It When You Sleep. Similarly, "The Sound" and the sparkling anthem "She's American," feature brightly infectious hooks that wouldn't be out of place on a Prince album. Cuts like "UGH!," and the cheeky, plastic funk single "Love Me," sound delightfully like something Madonna might have made in collaboration with Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers and art-pop duo Yello. In that sense, the 1975 are more in line with the swagger of artists like INXS, U2, or even Madonna for that matter, whose early hits clearly had an impact on the group's approach here.
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As he sings on "The Sound," "It's not about reciprocation, it's just all about me/A sycophantic, prophetic, Socratic, junkie wannabe." This is primarily due to the contributions of lead singer Matthew Healy, whose overly wordy lyrics and weird, playfully dark persona - sort of like a sexual Fraggle - can sometimes put listeners off the pop scent. Despite their name and their ear for '80s synthesizers, the British outfit sound much more flamboyant than their contemporaries. While bands like MGMT and Vampire Weekend have long mined the VH-1 vaults for stylistic inspiration, there's nothing mannered about the 1975's retro-leanings. The difference this time around is Crossey, and the band's pristine studio execution, marked by a distinctive '80s adult contemporary aesthetic. Produced by Mike Crossey, I Like It When You Sleep finds the 1975 picking up on many of the stylistic threads running through their Crossey-helmed, self-titled 2013 debut: synthy new wave, kinetic dance-rock, and atmospheric balladry.
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As well as having a mouthful of a title, the 1975's sophomore album, 2016's I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It, is the kind of ambitious, self-indulgent album that either marks a grand misstep by a fledgling band, or the start of something big.