Spring 2016
BY EMILIE WEINER, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR ’17
The last Friday of February meant the arrival of the long-awaited, sophomore album by the 1975 for all their fans. It would become an album that found unprecedented success within weeks. I like it when you sleep for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it is an eclectic menagerie of songs and it’s setting the 1975 even further down their path of record-breaking success.
The album begins with their self-titled track “The 1975”, a new version of the same track that appeared on their self-titled album, but with a mood reflecting the band’s “new era”. The dramatic intro is merely the beginning. I like it when you sleep is ethereal, dreamy, exciting pop that defies the rules of any typical genre. Tracks like the acoustic ballad “She Lays Down” and “Lostmyhead” run a melancholy rain over listeners, while other pop anthems such as “Love Me” and “She’s American” will take you back to the 80s, falling in love to sounds that are undeniably Bowie and Peter Gabriel.
The band, based in Manchester, UK, has been together for more than a decade and signed to Dirty Hit records. Because of their independent label, they have overflowing artistic liberty, which has been steering them in just the right direction: up. They’re dominating the pop music with something utterly more than that. The alternative and rock worlds admire them just as much. I like it when you sleep has already broken records, topped the UK and US charts, and is known for its longest album title on the billboard.
The ambient electropop music is influential lyrically just as it is musically, as Matty Healy (frontman, vocalist, guitarist) and George Daniel (percussion) write all the music. The album deals with Healy’s drug struggle and comments on 21st century celebrity culture, as well as the concepts of religion, self-acceptance, and understanding.
From here, it seems as though the 1975 and I like it when you sleep for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it will only see more success. They’re touring worldwide in 2016 and will be headlining the local Shadow of the City music festival in Seaside Heights, NJ this June.
The Buccaneer 