The 1975 2XLP

Album Details

Critics have been bemused and thrilled by the Manchester four-piece The 1975 and their amorphous drifts between brooding art rock, crisp electronica, dancefloor R&B, and 80s gloss pop. “I don’t think it’s confusing,” says singer Matty Healy of his band. “Feeling a lack of identity and the searching within oneself to acquire a real understanding of what you want to be, that’s something that loads of people can connect with. It’s so strange that with music people want so many rules.” Matty has known what The 1975 is for some years now, just waiting for the right moment to unveil their stories of lust, intoxication and the unabashed grittiness of modern youth. “This record is a proper soundtrack to our formative years,” he says of their debut album, co-produced with Mike Crossey (Arctic Monkeys, Foals, The Kooks). “It’s everything that I know and every single song on the album, at some point, has been the most important thing in my life. I’ve spent my adult life working towards this album. It’s literally everything I am.” Matty’s adult life’ started young. He picked up the guitar when his dad’s best friend died, leaving him two guitars. His confrontational attitude was in place early too – the private school kick-out (“I didn’t really care for being there, I got in a couple of fights. I got asked to leave, I never actually got expelled…”) transitioning to public school at the age of fourteen he started drumming in a punk band with eventual band mates Adam Hann (guitar) and Ross MacDonald (bass).