The 1975 - Being Funny in a Foreign language

 

"Being Funny in a Foreign Language" is the 5th studio album by UK pop rockers The 1975.  Arguably one of the biggest bands to come out of the 2010s. Certainly in the UK anyway.  Although the roots of the band date back to the early 2000s but they were very much underground and in school for much of that period.  Last album "Notes of a conditional form" was heavily criticised by critics, many felt it was too long, too many tracks and Matt Healy was a bit up himself with the ambitiousness of the project.  I actually really enjoyed the album.  I wrote twice as much for that album as I normally do. There is just so much to it and yes, they did push their boundaries a bit with weird interludes and did hopscotch round some different genres.  But that is why I found it so refreshing.

"Part of the Band" was the first single to be taken from "Being Funny in a Foreign language".  This is quite a low-key track, especially for The 1975's single standards.  It is also quite unique for them. In the past they have been no stranger to a saxophone solo.  But with this track is the first track where the strings do a lot of the heavy lifting on the song. Don't worry there's still a wee saxophone jam in there too.  I think there will be many fans of the band slightly let down by the single as it is down tempo and perhaps better as an album track.  But I don't think they needn't be worried as next singles "Happiness" and "I'm in love with you" see them crank up the tempo again.  "Happiness" has that feel good, upbeat and joyous rhythm.  It's a blinder of a track. "I'm in love with you" is slightly cheesy but certainly fits with the theme of the album generally - Love.

Personally, I think the band have taken into account what the critics have been saying and channelled it into this album.  There are no instrumental tracks on this album which act as interludes or songs in their own right.  I don't feel there are any political statements, or a mixture of emotions conveyed in this album.  The album is very focused, all the songs fit together and it's the right length.  They have songs like "The 1975", "Part of the band" and "About you" which have those strings which differentiates things from their previous albums.  The changes in pace throughout the album work well.

"Oh Caroline" and "Wintering" are in my opinion two of the best tracks off the album.  I think Matt's vocals are at their best on "Oh Caroline" and "Wintering" is a nice chirpy number, thanks to an acoustic guitar and piano mixed in together.  I would say the weakest tracks are "Human Too" and "I'm in love with you".  As previously mentioned, "I'm in love with you" is a bit cheesy.  While "Human Too" just doesn't cut the grade compared to the other tracks.

Overall, this a decent album.  But in terms of where it ranks compared to the rest of their albums it is lower down.  I wasn't complaining that they were getting more ambitious, doing instrumentals, doing longer albums. I embraced it and was thankful for it.  It was one of the magical things about this band.  The masses I imagine will like this album and it has already done the job as it went to no 1 in the UK in a week where Red Hot Chili Peppers also released an album.  But as I say job done still, a good album.