by Sam Wolstenholm
Happy New Year everybody! Now that it's 2023, I figured I'd do a little year-themed review of something a little out of my lane. Shake things up a little. The 1975 is a band composed of Matthew Healy (lead singer and guitarist), Adam Hann (guitarist), Ross MacDonald (bassist), and George Daniel (drummer) (it seems as though the individuals don't have their own Wikipedia pages). On October 14th of 2022, they released their fifth studio album: Being Funny in a Foreign Language. I generally like music labeled as "alternative" (as this one is). I'm at the very least intrigued by it. This projects sticks to more of a live sound overall and dabbles in a few different generic styles.
I look forward to bringing more in-depth, track-by-track album reviews this year, so let me know what else you want to read. I'm thoroughly enjoying this as it also allows me to find and appreciate music I normally would've overlooked. This album is a good example of that. Read on to see why.
1. "The 1975"
Wow, what an opener for real. I love the grandiosity of this track. It feels like it's building up the entire time as it follows a simple string line. It continuously adds to it though, creating quite the dynamic album opener. It's dramatic, beautiful, fun, and emotional. Almost every instrument you can think of is present at some point. It's so big and it's executed so well. The vocals are subtle enough to not take away from the instrumental but powerful enough to draw me in for more in-depth listens. It's painfully accurate, everything Matthew Healy is saying. He takes a cynical approach to the state of the world (even literally saying "it's cynical"), but he does it with more of an observant and dissapointed point of view. The repeated line, "I'm sorry if you're living and you're seventeen," is so sad to hear. Things are just getting worse, and he feels bad for the young people currently transitioning into adulthood (rightfully so). I guess I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. I don't expect them to be, but I hope the rest of the songs on here are as good as this one.
2. "Happiness"
Immediately, I'm filled with seratonin as I hear a crisp, funky baseline and some horns (trumpet and saxophone, at least) filling the air. I've already been got. But wait, there's more. The drums are simple but effective in keeping the song grooving because the vocals kind of contrast the pacing. They're smooth and sensual. You can hear the actual emotion. It feels like a smile. Blissfullness is captured in the instrumental and the performance. My favorite part of the song is actually when the vocals cut out and the saxophone gets to shine with a solo. The band is moving on here to define what happiness actually is within that shitty and miserable world they just described in the song prior. There are a lot of sounds that come together here very well, and I just want to do a little dance when I hear it. Great track.
Where the last song sounded like a good track with some 80s influence, this one just sounds like a basic 80s song. The drums are extremely upbeat and the synths sound like something that'd be in a Bruce Springsteen song, and I consider Bruce Springsteen overrated. It's very noisy but less organized than the first two songs, and it goes by in a flash (under three minutes), not allowing the instrumental to develop very much. The upbeat and energetic vibe contrasts with the dark message of the lyrics. If you're able to hear what he's saying (I had a tough time with that), you'd hear how it seems like more of a song about shooting someone than loving them. Specifically, I'm seeing a situation derived of jealousy. I admit, it's an interesting song in the fact that it makes me think, but it doesn't sound good enough to get me fully on board. Yes, the concept is something that I would normally be attracted to, but the song overall is just kind of bland and comes off to me as outdated.
Alright, there's a decent amount to talk about with this song. I'll start with the actual music. It doesn't seem like there's much going on until you pay closer attention. The string section is what the main sound is, but there are different things coming in and out every 15 seconds. It's all pretty subtle, but it does just enough to keep me on my toes. There are a number of times the energy of the track feels like it's building up to something just for it to do a sort of jump cut. An example of this is the chorus as it kind of just jumps in with some slow drums and a strumming acoustic guitar lead. That's sonically interesting to me because it adverted my expectations. There's also a breakdown of sorts in the last third or so of the song. It's got some surreal sounding horns and it's very good. There are a number of sound effects throughout the track as well that help build a dream-like atmosphere.
Conceptually, I also find myself fully engaged. I'm pretty sure this song is about the difficulty of fighting the seduction of drugs. I use the term "drugs" loosely as I kind of just mean it as something that feels good but is bad for you. Yes, this means actual drugs, but it's also toxic love, the internet, getting yourself off, and various intrusive thoughts (Matthew Healy mentions falling in love with a boy...EDITING NOTE: That isn't a thing that's inherently bad for you but Healy presents it as something that is internally conflicting to him). The storytelling is on point as there are just a few relationships described, and there is a lot of disconnect described in them. The disconnect between the two people but also between the narrator and the surrounding society. He wants to make genuine connections and be happy, but it seems like the world is working against that constantly. "The worst inside of us begets, that feeling on the internet. It's like someone intended it. Like advertising cigarettes." I love that line.
This chorus is just cheesy. I'm talking both the lyrics and the melodies. It's an annoyingly hummable melody with some basic ass words. "Oh Caroline. I want to get it right this time." I'm not impressed. Plus, it's mad toxic. Not in an interesting way either. From what I can gather, it kind of sounds like dude is telling Caroline that he would change everything about himself for her and even is suicidal without her. That's pretty messed up, and it's hard for me to get into a song like that. I don't relate to it, nor do I want to (nor do I want anyone else to). The music doesn't help it much. It's got a simple but consistent bass line (EDITING NOTE: the bass line is probably the best part of the track) and a standard acoustic guitar rift. The drums are poppy and the piano chords give an overly-dramatic feel to the instrumental. Oh yea, and there are those nasty 80s Phil Collins drum fills (I admit, it works in the context of this song, but it sounds like I'm about to be Rick Rolled).
Oh god...I don't think I'd hate this song at all if the chorus wasn't so boy-bandy. In fact, the verses aren't bad at all. I appreciate their simplicity in this case, but they take it a step too far in the chorus. It's definitely catchy, but that's only because they say the same line 100 times. In the verses, he sounds hesitant or nervous to share his feelings, but decides to beat us over the head with it in the chorus. Like dude, make up your mind. It's a good performance vocally, but I just can't get into it. There's something missing musically that it needs to become a good song. Maybe it's a better drum beat. It could also be a reworking of the uninteresting guitar part. It could use some variation in the instrumental, then maybe the chorus could work. Right now though it's a mid song and is one I'll probably forget about pretty quickly. It's also way too long for what it is. Doesn't need to be over four minutes.
Generally, I'm liking the slower-paced tracks like this one more than the faster pop ones like the last one. 3/4 time signatures are usually automatically more interesting to me, and I could apply that with this as well. Actually, I'll just say it's more interesting than it would've been if it were in 4/4 time. What I reallyyyyy like in this track is the sound of feedback from the microphones (and the comment about starting the hi-hats as like a live comment, though it is pretty distorted). Whether it's fake or not doesn't matter because it gives a sense of imperfection, and that's kind of what the song is about. He doesn't care about anything besides hearing this person tell him they love him. The live sound of the recording also makes it seem like this is being played and sung directly to the person it's about. It feels very personal. For all that I just mentioned, I like the song. However, it also fails to make that next step for me. It's a standard love song at its core, and it doesn't really try to be much more than that. I've heard it a couple times now, but I feel like I've heard it 500 times before even playing it once. It's fine, but disappointing.
8. "wintering"
Cool intro. Honestly, this is better than half of the Christmas songs I reviewed in my holiday post (read that here). I really like the concept of this track. It's, on the surface, about returning home for the holidays and catching up with everyone and everything you've missed while you were gone. It's a nice sentiment really, and realistic. It's something that a whole lot of people don't recognize as an event that is as important and emotional as it can be for those in their lives. This may or may not piss people off, but this is what a good Taylor Swift song would sound like (see my review for her Midnights album). Sorry, but not really. There's a country-pop influence here but it isn't too overbearing. The guitar/piano combination (and quite possibly a fiddle?) sounds great, then the electric guitar pops in and gives the instrumental a larger atmosphere. It's good enough, and I don't really have much more to say than that.
9. "Human Too"
This song sounds unfinished. It waits until two and a half minutes in even try to get interesting. By that point, I'm already bored because there's been nothing but piano and singing about being human. I get the message, but don't you think it's a little too on-the-nose? Like, there isn't a metaphor you can use to more creatively get your message across? Then, the ending just occurs out of nowhere and stops. There's no cool-down or lasting thought. It just stops. I'm glad it did though. There are some good things I could say about this, but it'd almost feel like I'm reaching, so I won't. This is very close to getting a garbage GIF. It would've if it weren't saved by the changes near the end.
10. "About You"
See now this sounds like an 80s song, but a good one. It's got a vibe that oddly reminds me of what The Weeknd was going for with Dawn FM. I think it works better here though, and I really like that album (though it isn't as good as After Hours). The lyrics aren't anything crazy, so I won't spend time discussing them. It's really about the performance. The vocals are mixed to sound so large and it reminds me of something MGMT did on Little Dark Age. I know I'm making comparisons, but this song stands on its own. It's unique, ambitious, and emotional. Even the guest singer, Carly Holt (wife of The 1975's guitarist Adam Hann), does a nice job. Her voice brings an innocence that works really well in context. I can imagine myself in a magical Disney movie or something just dancing with my true love in a ballroom or grassy field. That might be too much, but you know what I mean. Great song.
Hmmmmm I'm not sure about this one. It sounds pretty good, but I don't see myself putting it on my playlist or even returning to it at all. The instrumental is pretty and well-composed as it features some beautiful strings (violin or fiddle again I'm not 100% sure) that sounds a bit folky. It's got a lovely feel to it and Healy's vocals are quiet and soft, matching the vibe. It's decent. The lyrics are definitely interesting too. My favorite is "Central Park is Seaworld for trees," LMAO! I actually laughed out loud when I heard that. It's funny because there's definitely some weird truth behind it. The chorus is catchy but also features some...interesting lyrics. "You ask about the cows wearing my sweater." I don't quite get that one. It could be taken as you're asking about the cows while you're wearing my sweater. That'd make a little more sense, but I don't exactly see how that's supposed to contribute to a love song. Also, I'd be more inclined to ask my partner about cows if the cows actually were wearing sweaters. That's much more interesting than randomly asking about cows while I happen to wearing your sweater (EDITING NOTE: Okay I get that it's literally not supposed to mean much of anything and that the point is to appreciate the little things and random thoughts because they are experiencing them together as opposed to alone, but that doesn't make it a good line for a song). Okay, enough of that tangent. It's actually a decent song and does a good job closing out the project. It's just too uneventful and boring for me to personally be impressed by it.
Overall
It's a tough album to give a score to, but The 1975's Being Funny in a Foreign Language definitely impressed me more than I thought it would. Unfortunately, there were a few songs that I simply didn't like. None of them were horrible, but there was a lot of forgettable content on here. The high-quality stuff, on the other hand, made my playlist (and it was almost half the album, so pretty good). The project explores concepts of love and, um, imperfections? There isn't really much of an overarching theme or anything, but each individual song seems to be its own disconnected idea. That's okay, but the musical ideas are pretty connected, so there's a weird dynamic there. It doesn't make each song better or worse, but the album experience as a whole does get choppy. The use of strings across the album was impressive. Many different vibes were not only created by the sound but led by it, and it helped with the sonic consistency. I wish the horns were more prevalent across the project though because that was my favorite part about almost every song they were featured on. The vocals were kind of hard to hear in parts, and that took away from those parts. The lyrics themself were decent, but none of them really blew me away. They didn't make up for the fact that they could barely be heard sometimes. Besides the parts of the album I thoroughly enjoyed, I kind of found myself bored a lot. I really don't see myself listening to the album as a whole again, though I'll be giving a few of the songs a spin for the rest of the year.
5.9/10
If you've read my review, I assume you have already heard Being Funny in a Foreign Language, so I want to hear what you think. What'd I miss? Did I tear apart your favorite song? Or give too much credit to one that doesn't deserve it? Any questions or comments? I'd love to respond. Feel free to drop review requests too! I will strongly consider them (this one was a request).
Peace and love.
With
“Central Park is sea world for trees”
And
“you ask about the cows, wearing my sweater”
He’s referring to her quirks, the stuff she says, thinks, does. They’re memorable, it’s a characteristic that he admires about her.
These are things she’s said while living in the moment with him.