“About You” by The 1975, Wednesday, February 14, 2025

The 1975 released their fifth album Being Funny in a Foreign Language in October 2022. The production of the album had been delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The album was slated to be produced by BJ Burton. Lead singer Matty Healy was a fan of Burton’s production work on Bon Iver’s 22, A Million and Low’s Double Negative and Hey What. However, there were creative differences between the producer and the band. The 1975 began working with producer Jack Antonoff; known for his work with Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift, and Lorde; which ended the production sessions with Burton. Antonoff builds on the art rock direction The 1975 had been working on throughout their discography. Their previous album, Notes on a Conditional Form, had experimented with classical music. Antonoff took the band in a jazzier direction.

THERE WAS SOMETHING ABOUT YOU THAT NOW I CAN’T REMEMBER. Jack Antonoff brings a more even sound to The 1975’s Being Funny in a Foreign Language. Previous albums have been an eclectic mix of noisy rock and cafe music you might find suited to listening to a coffee shop while snacking on pizzelle. Being Funny in a Foreign Language falls on the cappuccino and Italian waffle side of their discography, smooth, at times flirting with yacht rock. And while the song titles have been trimmed to fit on your MP3 player without scrolling over and heavy rock influence has become almost obsolete, the album’s singles wouldn’t be showing up on Adult Contemporary stations. In fact, even when calm, the band keeps their sound interesting with shifting tempos and off-hand lyrics, delivered by one of the most provocative voices in music today, lead singer Matty Healy. Today’s song, “About You,” is the penultimate track on the band’s latest album. Healy duets with Carly Holt, the wife of the band’s guitarist Adam Hann. Pitchfork compared Healy’s vocal delivery to Morrissey. I’ve talked about slowly getting into The 1975, and their latest album is no exception. So many bands that I respect praise the English band, which makes me want to connect with them. “About You” was even added to a Tooth & Nail curated Valentine’s playlist called “Tooth & Nail Is For Lovers.”

I’LL MISS YOU ON A TRAIN. Rather than praise The 1975 like I know what I’m talking about, I thought I’d spend the rest of my post considering how their influence seems to be influencing veteran bands. Of course The 1975 is influencing up-and-coming acts. Last year, singer-songwriter Knox released a song called “Not The 1975,” using lyrics from the band’s greatest hits in the voice of his biggest critic, a girl he has a crush on to say: “I like your confidence, but you’re not The 1975.” The song has bubbled under the Alternative Airplay chart in America, but it already had over 10 million streams. As for veteran acts, the best example I’ve heard was a few years ago, Aaron Gillespie talked about how Underoath spent a lot of their time on tour listening to The 1975 records. In 2014, Stephen Christian told ChorusFM, speaking of Anberlin’s legacy, the Anberlin lead singer told interviewer Jonathan Bautts, that Anberlin had played a show with The 1975. Christian said “The singer was so stoked to be able to talk to us and meet us because he had been a fan. That, to me, is so humbling.” While I can’t find a source that suggests that Matty Healy was a fan of Anberlin’s, though it’s possible, I would suggest that The 1975 have influenced my favorite song of last year, which happens to be an Anberlin song. To make the loose connection a little tighter, Anberlin’s Convinced, their EP released last June was co-produced with Chad Carouthers, JJ Revell, and Underoath’s Tim McTague.  

 Any guesses which song? I’ll be announcing it soon!

Read the lyrics on Genius.