After making a name for themselves in 2013 with their self-titled album, British alternative band, The 1975, released their sophomore album, “I Like it When You Sleep, for you are so Beautiful yet so Unaware of it” on Friday, Feb. 26.
The album starts with a minute and a half long introduction, apply titled “The 1975.” With a climax of electronic sounds and background singing, the introduction shows the band’s blend of electronic, pop, alternative and rock influence.
Prior to the release, the band released four of the 17 songs on the album. The songs, “Love Me,” “UGH!,” “Somebody Else” and “The Sound” come second, third, tenth and 13th on the album, respectively.
“Love Me” has a repetitive guitar riff as their main key to the song, but the lyrics discuss embracing their fans’ love and to oppose the narcissism of pop culture. “UGH!” talks about trying to quit an addiction but always turning back to it. While discussing such a dark topic, The 1975 uses more electronic beats, almost masking the reality of the song. It would have been better suited as an acoustic to show more emotional depth, rather than just another pop song. However, “The Sound” uses the lyric “Well I know when you’re around cause I know the sound, the sound of your heart.” The use of repetition works well in the piece, creating a catchy song. “Somebody Else,” nearly six minutes long, is a more emotional track, but lacks much lyrical variation.
“Change of Heart” discusses falling out of love with someone. The music sounds calmer than most of their upbeat songs, creating a connection with the listener. “If I Believe You” is another example where a slower and acoustic song creates a stronger connection to the audience. The song itself talks about religion and calling to a higher power. While relatable or not, the song uses higher vocal range and a gospel sounding background to show raw emotion.
The seventh song, “Please Be Naked,” is entirely instrumental, introducing piano, guitar and electronic sounds. The song was a good place for an intermission. “Lostmyhead,” appearing eighth on the album, was a mix of instrumental and vocals. The two songs meshed well together in their fluidity.
On the contrary, “She’s American,” “This Must Be My Dream,” and “Paris,” which come fifth, 14th and 15th on the album, respectively, are all fast moving and upbeat songs that contribute to the flow of the album. “She’s American” contrasts American and British culture and “This Must Be My Dream” focuses on finding love. “Paris” is about meeting people who are mentally ill. While all of the songs deal with different topics, they are the more up beat and fun songs on the album.
In the end, the final two songs, “Nana” and “She Lays Down” were perfect endings to this album. In “Nana,” lead singer Matty Healy sings to acoustic guitar about the death of his grandma. While the lyrics are obviously somber, lines like “made in my room this simple tune, will always keep me closer to you,” were simplistic, but made an impact on the listener since it was heartfelt. The final song, “She Lays Down” is also entirely acoustic and beautifully tied together the whole album. In the end, Healy whispers, “that was it,” creating a cliché ending.
Overall, the album had a variation of meaningful lyrics and movement. Adjusting some of the lyrics to make songs more appealling would help add to the overall greatness of the album, but still this is a nice alternative album by The 1975.
The Hilights
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Cost: $11.99 on iTunes
Album: I Like it When You Sleep, for you are so Beautiful yet so unaware of it