Transmission Review: I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It by The 1975
Wow. Look at that title. Real artsy.
No matter what they call their albums, The 1975 have been on posters in countless teenage girls rooms across their native England and across the pond as well. Their self titled debut was full of 80’s love-pop, producing hits like “Girls” and “Chocolate”, all utilizing jangly, chorus drenched guitars and dreamy synths. It’s like The Smiths if Morrissey had even more hormones. This time around they’ve come back a pink album cover and an absurdly long title, but is the music as beautiful as who it’s name describes?
After an intro track named after the group itself, the first real taste of the record is a funky jam simply called “Love Me”. A danceable groove is established straightaway on the track with a prominent guitar riff straight out of a Talking Heads song. Drums and bass follow, and eventually the chorus comes through with singer Matt Healy shouting “Love me! If that’s what you wanna do…” A very fitting and enjoyable opening track, but things only stay this way for so long.
Tracks three through five are alright. Somewhat forgettable. A song about having a “Change of Heart” and falling out of love, then even a pretty funny number mocking American girls: “If she likes it cause we just don’t eat, and we’re so intelligent, she’s American.” The album starts to look up immensely with track six. It’s a slow burner about Matt’s struggle with God (of all things for a 1975 album). Matt claims that there is “A God shaped hole” in his heart, but at the same time is skeptical, asking: “If I believe you, will that make it stop? If I told you I need you, is that what you want?” Surprisingly interesting for a song about God, it’s unfortunate that this song prefaces perhaps the worst part of the album.
What made The 1975 make tracks seven, eight and nine the way they were made, was probably time constraints, but is nonetheless the catalyst for disappointment. Forgettable lyrics and basic dreamy chords are plastered about in this chunk of the album, with a medium sized gamut of sounds coming and going throughout. Of course there is structure, but it slowly fades away and leaves you with an attempt at soundscaping. Ambient music is completely valid of course, but why it needed a spot on an album of 80’s themed pop tunes? Nobody could really say.
Once this segment ends though, tracks 10 through 14 are actually very well made, and what you should be expecting from the group. There is a bit more ambient experimentation in this chunk, but it’s done marginally better, with more focus and interesting components. “The Sound” is a very upbeat, somewhat old school house sounding banger that comes shortly after, and could get even your grandmother dancing on a good day. The album closes up with some very slow, personal songs about Matts family, his guilt for them, etc.
Despite some moments of filler and bore, I Like It When You Sleep is perhaps what you should expect a sophomore album to be. Old concepts are done better, and the group tries new things (sometimes not working out so well). Should you listen? To the singles yes, but a full experience would only be recommended for die hard fans.
PHYSICAL LOVE, EMOTIONAL LOVE, THE 1980’s, THE 1975, DREAMY SYNTHS, FUNKY GUITARS
TOP TRACK: THE SOUND
TRACK TO TRY: THE SOUND
LAME TRACK: LOSTMYHEAD
6.5+/10
image credit: josep vinaixa, idolator
Mindara Krueger-Olson • Feb 21, 2018 at 10:26 PM
This review is extremely insightful and I loved reading how the author portrayed his opinion through quick humor and vivid description. However, as a fan of the 1975, I would say that this album may deserve more than a 6.5/10. The author described track three as “somewhat forgettable”, which I disagree with due to this track being my favorite off of the album, but respect nonetheless. If I were to review this album, I would say that the “track to try” is track ten, titled “Somebody Else”. This track is on the surface one of singer Matt Healy sighing about how he cannot see the girl he is singing about with someone else although he does not desire her personally, but if given a true, undistracted listen-through, listeners will hear a deeply conflicted and emotional track. Overall, if this were my review, I would give “I like it when you sleep” a 7.5/10 because although the 1975 could do better, this album serves as a growth album for the group into new and different musical territories.
Ben Stern • Mar 6, 2017 at 7:22 PM
I feel like this review was done really well. The author has a really great voice and almost a level of sarcastic humor, this is even more apparent because of the author’s effective word choice to help bring more footing for the voice on the article.