the 1975

“nothing revealed” is the one that lays it on a little thick even for me

idk, it such a crucial part of the record. this is where i don't get the sequencing beefs. the sounds do jump around early in the record but "nothing revealed" and "tonight" being sandwiched in between "i think there's something you should know" and "shiny collarbone" is so effective. it's like you briefly slip into a sunnier dimension before being spit back out into the greyscale claustrophobia (london) that most of this album is riffing on

“Me & you together song” sounds like Third Eye Blind/Everclear

indeed

when it came out someone in here (i forget who) compared it to ride + third eye blind, which was the final word on the matter

matty is a huge fan of "vapour trail" so it's probably intentional

“Me & you together song” strays too much from the formula of sounding like every other Everclear song, to actually sound like Everclear.

decided the new one is the mid-point of "vapour trail" and "semi-charmed life"

― ufo, Friday, January 17, 2020 3:03 AM (four months ago) bookmarkflaglink

there was a recent interview where matty said "vapour trail" was their main reference point for it and said the "late 90s american teen movie soundtrack" sound was unintentional but he gets why people are making that comparison

it's a perfect song

nice to hear them get back to the their 3EB roots

"Me and You Together Song" is not only super-charming musically but I feel is yet another perfect and typical (in a good sense) example of Matt at his storytelling best: the use of embedded back-and-forth conversation quotes (I didn't realise until I searched the lyrics that the "I'm sorry that I'm kinda queer..." and the "oh it's okay, lots of people think I'm gay..." couplets are not sung from the same perspective), the"i'm lying to myself and you about what's really going on, but I can't help but reveal the truth before this song finishes" structure, the post-ironic "i deliberately puncture the romanticism at every turn but that just makes my romanticism seem stronger" touches ("we went to Winter Wonderland, and it was shit but we were happy").

Matt's ultimate lyrical "character" (basically: I'm ridiculous, and I openly acknowledge that, but that doesn't prevent me from being ridiculous or even ameliorate it much, because self-awareness doesn't matter if you can't change your behaviour) would probably ring pretty hollow if he didn't constantly and quite literally situate the "you" in the song and frequently arm them with better arguments than he gets (e.g. the argument about whose fear of going to the toilet in the presence of others is more ridiculous in "The Birthday Party"). The "easter egg" component of his lyric-writing is pretty much entirely based around where the quote marks go and which lines are attributed to whom, but I'm not sure I can think of a songwriter off-hand who has made that particular brand of transparent-mystery their central modus operandi?

Three listens in and I'm still pretty shocked how consistent this 22-track album is. I've never been a big fan of their acoustic songs but "Jesus Christ" and "Playing on My Mind" are both great. Everything is great. This band is great

“we went to winter wonderland and it was shit but we were happy” is increasingly feeling like one of the most romantic lyrics i can remember

lmao winter wonderland is literally the worst thing in london (not been but have gawped at + heard stories)...so maybe it really is that romantic

I'm loving the new album but I got completely waylaid by 'So Far (It's Alright)' today. Such a banger. I probably listened to it 50 times.

(I didn't realise until I searched the lyrics that the "I'm sorry that I'm kinda queer..." and the "oh it's okay, lots of people think I'm gay..." couplets are not sung from the same perspective),

yeah otm -- I only noticed it this weekend after headphone listening. The tumult of the arrangement mirrors the intensifying attraction.

Winter Wonderland is crap, I can confirm. I’ve had the misfortune of going twice. Both times it pissed it down.

Haven't been on ilm in a while so sorry if this has been commented on elsewhere, but this album's sonics remind me so much of Trashcan Sinatras's wonderful 2004 album Weightlifting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI1SSJAy1XI

i know i've said it before but i LOVE this album

The 1975 released a good album imo

two good albums!

(not four)

(it's okay if you think it's four)

three great ones, one good one imo

4 > 2=1 > 3

it's like ranking my children

much as they seemingly need at least 17 tracks to really make it work, am v excited for their promised 6/7-track spirit of eden/hats effort

https://eclecticlightdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/raffaellosanziojudgementsolomon.jpg?w=1020

solomon decreed that the album should be split in two; and that is how he was able to work out who the real 1975 fan was

otm

HAS HE GOT ENOUGH WEED NO BROKEN PHONE RETCHING ON THE FLOOR ALONE

― uberweiss, Thursday, August 29, 2013 9:25 PM (six years ago) bookmarkflaglink

otm

we take your mum's car to the edge of the town
and we drive
yeah we go round & round

― uberweiss, Friday, October 10, 2014 2:21 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

probably the most important lyric of the last twenty years

― Tim F, Thursday, October 9, 2014 8:31 PM (five years ago) bookmarkflaglink

oh wow, otm

iliwys > noacf > abiior > s/t

oh put "the EPs" above s/t

*listens*

*o christ don't start rapping*

I never listen to the first EP, but if Sex through IV was considered an album it would probably be my favourite just because probably no music in the past decade has had such a massive impact on me as those EPs did in 2013.

Then I tend to think ILIWYS and NOACF are probably tied for top position and the debut is marginally ahead of ABIIOR.

It's also definitely the case that some of the stuff on Notes recalls a lot of the more amorphous but still vocal-based material from those EPs ("Anobrain", "Haunt // Bed", "Head. Cars. Bending", "Me", "Falling For You") more than pretty much anything they have done in the interim. "I Think There's Something You Should Know" "What Should I Say", "Bagsy Not In Net"... To be reductionist, the re-emergence of early Junior Boys as one of the strongest implied reference points. Also the way that Matt's voice is buried or at least sits so far back in the mix in so many of these songs (on "Bagsy Not In Net": I'm also strongly reminded of Basement Jaxx's "If I Ever Recover").

It reminds me that one of the first critical frames I came up with for the band when I was first listening to the EPs was that their influences were almost exclusively 90s and that they were one of the first popular syncretist bands not really drawing on the 1980s as a stylistic signifier - which of course became a laughable proposition in light of the sound of the first and then second actual albums. But "If You're Too Shy" aside, this album has barely any moments that strongly code as referencing the eighties.

yeah Notes is the most inward-sounding they've been since the EPs. i'm really glad they've sorta come full circle and returned to that sort of vibe more, especially after ABIIOR was so big-sounding. there was a recent interview where Matty says he doesn't really expect they'll do any more of their 80s pop tracks like "If You're Too Shy" anytime soon, which i'd be fine with since they've given us plenty of fantastic ones and i'm excited for them to mine newer territory.

i wouldn't really say the EPs weren't really drawing on the 80s though, the sophisti- synth ballads like "Me" and "fallingforyou" are pretty 80s. it's still funny that they'd never heard The Blue Nile when they made those though.

Haha yeah that's the part that made me say "almost" exclusively - though even with "Me" and "fallingforyou" it was a bit like they were drawing (consciously or otherwise) on an art-pop continuum (all the Avalon / David Sylvian / The Blue Nile vibes) that ran pretty unbroken through the 80s and 90s and beyond rather than on a sound we specifically associate with the 80s - that John Hughes / Cars sound that emerged strongly on the album.

So, a couple of listens in, and I can only conclude this is the best 1975 album. It's better than ILIWYS, which I really rate highly. I'm not sure I get the sequencing remarks: they went all out, with a range of styles even broader than before. It's intended to be all over the place, to sometimes have 'opposing' songs back to back. I'm a fan.

much as they seemingly need at least 17 tracks to really make it work, am v excited for their promised 6/7-track spirit of eden/hats effort

― imago, Wednesday, May 27, 2020 1:47 AM (eight hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Don't jinx it man!

I think the sequencing issue is really only an issue for the first 5 tracks of Greta - punk - instrumental - wispy garage-ballad - instrumental. After that it seems no more nor less schizoid in sequencing than the previous two albums to me.

Can we also be really real about how amazing the production quality on "shiny collarbone" and "having no head" is?

"What Should I Say" with that descending piano motif as well.

Some of this album is kinda like "what if I felt a certain way about jamie xx???"

I think the sequencing issue is really only an issue for the first 5 tracks of Greta - punk - instrumental - wispy garage-ballad - instrumental. After that it seems no more nor less schizoid in sequencing than the previous two albums to me.

― Tim F, Wednesday, May 27, 2020 11:11 AM (twenty-three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I agree. I think it's a brave and bold choice to have Greta on their signature first track, but I'll be honest and think I'll probably start the album w/ People more often than not.

Some of this album is kinda like "what if I felt a certain way about jamie xx???"

Haha otm

the sequencing doesn't bug me as much now that i'm used to it but the initial stretch up until "jesus christ 2005" is still awkward, especially that very slow opening section tim mentioned. "shiny collarbone" into "if you're too shy" also doesn't work very well at all.

i agree their production gets better and better with every record. it's wild to compare some of the more electronic tracks on the EPs to this record because of how far they've come

i like that the first few songs act as an uneasy progression into reflexive interiorization

the intro to "if you're too shy" coming out of nothing adjacent does really jar, yeah, even tho the sense of sublimated drift when the band comes in makes it ultimately worth that section

i keep marveling at the vocal production throughout in particular

I'VE BEEN (wearing nothing every time I) CALL YOU (and I'm starting to feel weird about it)

4 > 2 > 1 > 3

v close btwn 4 and 2 but NOACF has more tracks yet fewer that I'd class as "not life-changingly amazing" ('don't worry' vs 'love me', 'loving someone', 'she lays down')

actually mad that they've outdone one of my absolute favourite albums ever jeez

also I fully enjoy the sequencing of the opening tracks - so dramatic and cinematic!

yeah I am completely down with how this album gets going, it’s as the end approaches that I feel the dissonance

yeah I meant more that it's only the opening stretch that feels unusual for them - their previous albums all have a clutch of big singles in at least relatively short succession after the opening eponymous track.

I love the greta song, just a random observation