Review: The 1975 – Notes On a Conditional Form

What’s up y’all! Today’s review will be for the long-awaited album by The 1975.

The 1975 is a pop rock band spearheaded by lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Matthew Healy, who’s accompanied by lead guitarist Adam Hann, bassist Ross MacDonald, and drummer George Daniel. They gained major popularity from their album I Like it When You Sleep, for Your Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware, reaching No. 1 in the US and UK. Notes on a Conditional Form released last week as their fourth studio album with a massive 22 song tracklist. Many teaser tracks were released prior to the album, including the surprising hardcore punk single People. This teaser intrigued me and many in the music scene as it was so left field for the band known for being excessively contrived by teenage girls. The most astounding part of it all was simply: They were great at it. I’ve been waiting for this record for a long time (it was delayed by the pandemic) and was extremely excited to listen to it. However, after the first two tracks, nothing compelling came into fruition. Here’s my track-by-track analysis:

- The 1975 – A Greta Thunberg speech over an inspiration instrumental to bring awareness on climate change.

- People – A phenomenal hardcore punk track inspired by the likes of Refused and Converge to create a song reacting to the feeling of oppressive and conservative religion.

- The End (Music For Cars) – String instruments start the track, continuing with an orchestral atmosphere that is purely instrumental. This feels like a better introduction to what the rest of the album has to offer.

- Frail State of Mind – The atmosphere transitions to the usual The 1975 groove, and the cliché love lyrics finally start. Generic lyrics about insecurity also make an appearance.

- The Streaming – Another orchestral interlude.

- The Birthday Party – The lyrical content indeed talks about a birthday party along with themes of peer pressure and young love. The rhyme between kombucha and Ed Ruscha was the only noticeable line. I can appreciate it.

- Yeah I Know – Beginning is more synth-heavy with some nice voice augmentation. “Hit that shit, go hit that shit” is repeated quietly a lot over the track and other short, vague lyrics are inexpressively sung.

- Then Because She Goes – Abrupt transition into louder guitar riffs and a more rock vibe song. “When you leave I cry on the inside” line ironically doesn’t feel emotional at all.

- Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America – A song about being in love with Jesus Christ (obviously not as good as ITAOTS :) ). Honestly, this is a more substantive love track with the more folky instrumental with trumpets. It seems like the individuals of the couple in the song are singing about each other; the guy singing about the girl’s love for him and vice versa. It’s a pretty cute song honestly. Also “Searching for planes in the sea” was a line (ITAOTS reference maybe? Haha Just kidding).

- Roadkill – Back to the rock feel instrumental. More love lyrics and a predictable vocal melody.

- Me & You Together Song – Wow, what a great title. Honestly, what you would expect from the title of a song. Lyrics about the nuances of love in a romantic relationship that people enjoy. Matthew mentions others’ false assumptions of him being homosexual in a line. A generic “feel good” song.

- I Think There’s Something You Should Know – Expected lyrics about hiding a secret from probably a significant other. The song is musically redundant.

- Nothing Revealed / Everything Denied – I love everything about this track. The choral music hits hard at the beginning, and the vocals continue swapping between the choral, the low-pitched, and the normal singing voice. The flow on the low-pitch and normal singing voices is great and the lyrics fit smoothly. Also, the piano was amazing. Very well executed track.

- Tonight (I Wish I Was Your Boy) – Fantasizing about running away with a lover. I fell like I know the formula for most of the songs on this record by now, and this song only continues that lyrically and musically.

- Shiny Collarbone – This track is derivative and useless in the flow of the album. Another instrumental interlude that is more of a dance vibe? The 1975 add Cutty Ranks Vocals over the instrumental.

- If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know) – A pointless opera intro as a predictable The 1975-sounding song follows. Again, lyrically and musically.

- Playing On My Mind – The lyrics are about relatable problems that young people ponder about love in the future.

- Having No Head – A mind-numbing 6-minute instrumental interlude of sorts that just gets louder and more annoying. The record is so long, and they put this in towards the end?!?! It’s like they don’t want me to enjoy my listening experience.

- What Should I Say – Weirdly autotuned singing.

- Bagsy Not In Net – Orchestral intro that plays in the background throughout the song. The track is extremely short and doesn’t really go anywhere thematically.

- Don’t Worry – Weird electrical choral vocals with a church-like piano accompanying them. The song’s lyrics are just the coddling of a girl, validating their anxious thoughts and feelings.

- Guys – Finally! The end. I am guessing this is a thank you song to the members of the band. A pretty sweet and thoughtful ending after such a dreadfully long album.

Overall, the album was too long. Also, nothing spectacular came from the teaser track People. On this album, the 1975 deals with love lyrics redundantly, and their execution of music is derivative. There are four interludes on this thing that contribute absolutely nothing (maybe the first is an exception as a good, true introduction to the record). The interludes honestly emanate the attempt of grandiosity that completely fell short of any compelling ideas for the record as a whole. There are a few tracks I appreciate that contain good attributes, but they are forgotten in this 80-minute experience of redundancy. However, I do believe it is an accessible album to listen to (individual songs can be listened to recreationally), but that just shows the pointlessness of the interludes and even the introduction of the album.

Favorite Tracks: Nothing Revealed / Everything Denied

Least Favorites: Having No Head, What Should I Say

Not Good Album: 4.0