The 1975 - Notes On A Conditional Form (2020) [Official Digital Download]

mushroomed out of all proportion. Initially intended as a swiftly-released companion piece to its predecessor, 2018’s A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships, it apparently ended up taking the 1975 19 months in 15 studios in four countries to complete. You can tell as much, just from a cursory spin – if it is possible to give a cursory spin to something that’s 22 tracks long and lasts 80 minutes.

The first thing you hear is an ambient instrumental backing a lengthy speech by Greta Thunberg. That’s followed by a yowly punk track, a burst of post-dubstep experimentation, a mainstream pop song, a bit of Radiohead-circa-Kid-A meandering, a song that sounds like Teenage Fanclub, a melancholy acoustic ballad that might have been made for the soundtrack of a quirky indie romcom, something that recalls the more commercial end of baggy-era alt-rock, Radio 1-friendly faux-gospel-infused piano balladry and a guest appearance from FKA twigs. As you reach the hour mark, and they keep piling on the musical styles – sax-solo-assisted 80s MTV rock, a house tune featuring dancehall star Cutty Ranks – the experience feels less like listening to an album than randomly flicking through Spotify. You start to think: God, what next? Technical death metal? Something that sounds like Bucks Fizz? The pipes and drums of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards?

Of course, eclecticism is part of the 1975’s appeal. They started life as the kind of slick alt-rock band that even the NME hated: one reason they’ve vastly outstripped their peers in that musical area is their understanding that we live in an age when generic boundaries and tribal loyalties have collapsed. If everyone likes a bit of everything, why not try and reflect that? This concept has served them well in the past, but their fourth album feels stretched to an incoherent breaking point.

Randomly flicking through Spotify is bound to throw up some duds, and so it proves. There are fantastic songs on Notes on a Conditional Form, where their melodic deftness shines or their desire to experiment yields dividends: Then Because She Goes is beautiful; If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know) and Me & You Together Song are gleaming examples of the 1975’s way with a straightforward pop song; Bagsy Not in Net’s combination of high-drama orchestration and UK garage-influenced rhythm really works, and Guys is an authentically touching depiction of the band’s formative years.

TRACKLIST

1. The 1975 - The 1975
2. The 1975 - People
3. The 1975 - The End (Music For Cars)
4. The 1975 - Frail State Of Mind
5. The 1975 - Streaming
6. The 1975 - The Birthday Party
7. The 1975 - Yeah I Know
8. The 1975 - Then Because She Goes
9. The 1975 - Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America
10. The 1975 - Roadkill
11. The 1975 - Me & You Together Song
12. The 1975 - I Think There's Something You Should Know
13. The 1975 - Nothing Revealed / Everything Denied
14. The 1975 - Tonight (I Wish I Was Your Boy)
15. The 1975 - Shiny Collarbone
16. The 1975 - If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)
17. The 1975 - Playing On My Mind
18. The 1975 - Having No Head
19. The 1975 - What Should I Say
20. The 1975 - Bagsy Not In Net
21. The 1975 - Don’t Worry
22. The 1975 - Guys



Thanks to the Original customer.