Two and a half years after Notes On A Conditional Form, The 1975 have announced their next tour, titled “At Their Very Best”. Quite a grand claim, until you’ve heard Being Funny.
Easily their most digestible and generally enjoyable album, Being Funny In A Foreign Language is the best of each 1975 era — without the fluff. While their earlier work was sonically ‘retro’ (think ‘80s bubblegum synth-pop), more recent influences include rock, funk, and even R&B. “Happiness”, Being Funny’s second single, is a natural transition from NOACF, while “Looking For Somebody (To Love)” is classic I like it when you sleep… and “I’m In Love With You” bears similarity to A Brief Inquiry. But there’s an overarching vibe — some might call it cinematic — as Track 1’s staccato piano immediately parallels Call My By Your Name’s (2017) opening credits.
Being Funny simultaneously maintains lead singer Matty Healy’s cynicism while being their most uplifting, least angst-y album yet. Perhaps a reflection of his personal journey, it’s a bit less doom-and-gloom and a bit more bittersweet. Not much for subtlety, Healy hits you over the head with happiness (“Happiness”), love (“Looking For Somebody (To Love)”, “I’m In Love With You”), and togetherness (“Wintering”, “When We Are Together”). There’s a touch of melancholy on “Oh Caroline” and “About You”, giving listeners that “Somebody Else” sensation without leaning too far into self-pity.
The 1975 are increasingly postmodern, connecting storylines between albums and addressing previous exaggerations and idiosyncrasies (“We’re fuckin’ in a car” from “Love It If We Made It” famously becomes “I never fucked in a car, I was lying. I do it on my bed, lying down, not trying” in “Nothing Revealed / Everything Denied”). A continuation of “Robbers”, the sixth single from their self-titled debut, “About You” is a hazy, ethereal, hypothetical conversation between two ex-lovers. Featuring Carly Holt (who’s married to guitarist Adam Hann), Healy asks “Do you think I have forgotten about you?” and Holt answers “I never know what to think about, I think about you”. This back-and-forth gives fans a sense of closure on this particular chapter, eight years later.
The band’s also known to comment on socio-cultural phenomena (such as climate change on NOACF and QAnon on Being Funny). In “Human Too”, arguably the album’s most forgettable track, Healy expresses empathy to fellow “flawed” humans. While forgiveness is admirable, especially coming from Healy, who’s been addicted to drugs and briefly cancelled online, it begs the question: Should we be so casual with people who cause harm?
“Looking For Somebody (To Love)”, according to its Spotify Storyline, is about school shootings and how The 1975 wrestles with their increasing commonality. Yet on “Human Too”, the Storyline mentions “empathising with incels”, who are often the perpetrators of these terribly unnecessary events. “Human Too” strives to be amoral and apolitical but takes a strange stance in today’s society. “Whimsical, political, liberal”. Normally what you’d expect from The 1975, but apparently what they’re now trying to avoid.
Returning to the details, Healy’s songwriting abilities, while often coming into question (see “I’m In Love With You” and “TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME”), are in fact intact, demonstrated most skillfully in “Part Of The Band” and “Wintering”. Both songs tell Healy’s stories — about himself, his family, his “ego” and “ejaculations” — and make for interesting yet distinct departures from the rest of the album. While “Part Of The Band” reads almost like a journal entry (“Am I ironically woke? The butt of my joke? Or am I just some post-coke, average, skinny bloke”), “Wintering” is a lighthearted Christmas song about quirky characters reconvening “on the 23rd”. Though thematically at odds, both are feats of clever lyricism.
Successful bands can seamlessly switch between upbeat anthems and slower, softer melodies. The 1975 again prove capable in this regard. “All I Need To Hear” is a Norah Jones-esque tune, made of muted piano, drums, and guitar. It’s simple, pretty, and a bit desperate — “Just tell me you love me, ‘cause that’s all that I need to hear” — the perfect slow dance song. The album wraps — at a respectable 43 minutes and 32 seconds — with “When We Are Together”. Addressing NOACF’s “Guys”, which sparked a will they/won’t they debate about the band breaking up, Healy asserts that Being Funny is only the “end of Season 5”. I’m not ready for the finale just yet, but were The 1975 to take an ‘indefinite hiatus’, they’d be doing so, well, at their very best.
Photo courtesy of The 1975
