The 1975, 鈥淏eing Funny in a Foreign Language鈥� (Dirty Hit/Interscope)
There is plenty to like about The 1975's new album until there's something to really admire.
鈥淧art of the Band鈥� is the kind of song 鈥� is it post-pop, prog-pop, post-prog pop? 鈥� that refuses to follow a tempo pattern as it caroms from cellos to lounge ballad to sax solo, with dense, funny lyrics. It will make radio DJs sweat.
鈥淎m I ironically woke? The butt of my joke? Or am I just some post-coke, average, skinny bloke calling his ego imagination?鈥� frontman and lyricist Matty Healy sings. Have any lyrics captured the 2022 mood better for a liberal-leaning white cis male pop star?
鈥淧art of the Band鈥� is the outlier on the 11-track 鈥淏eing Funny in a Foreign Language鈥� 鈥� an album designed to blow up radio with romantic love songs, from ballads to dance hall ditties, all the while referencing Aperol and QAnon.
The blissful pop of 鈥淗appiness鈥� will make those scared DJs now very happy, with utterly sincere lyrics from a lovesick man: 鈥淚 would go blind just to see you.鈥� Ditto with 鈥淚鈥檓 In Love With You,鈥� a delicious wave of glistening pop. And 鈥淥h Caroline鈥� feels like it could have been the theme from a late '70s TV rom-com.
鈥淟ooking For Somebody (To Love)鈥� has an '80s vibe with sped-up production elements and the smoky ballad 鈥淗uman Too鈥� has a Coldplay feel as Healy looks back on his transgressions: 鈥淚鈥檓 sorry that I quite liked seeing myself on the news.鈥� And the sweeping, dreamy 鈥淎bout You鈥� has a welcome presence not often on The 1975 albums: A woman鈥檚 voice front and center: that of Carly Holt, wife of guitarist Adam Hann.
Throughout are trademarks of The 1975 鈥� orchestral sweeps, very personal snapshots and snippets of dialogue that muddy the production, like the ghostly image of a previous painting peeking through the new.
The self-titled first song has become an album tradition and this time the band has gone with an apology: To young men for the world they're inheriting. 鈥淚鈥檓 sorry if you鈥檙e living and you鈥檙e 17,鈥� Healy sings.
But the jewel is that fourth song, 鈥淧art of the Band,鈥� where super-producer Jack Antonoff's influence is most felt. "So many cringes in the heroin binges/I was coming off the hinges, living on the fringes,鈥� go the lyrics. It's the sound of a band reaching for the highest compliment: being funny in a foreign language.
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Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press
