The 1975 are back and at their very best with their new fifth studio album titled Being Funny In a Foreign Language. With 11 songs and an almost 45 minute runtime, this is the shortest project we’ve ever seen from a band well-known for never shying away from excess. Front-man Matty Healy is infamous for his long-winded honest interview answers that then translate into sprawling musical works loved by fans. But this shorter album has no problem capturing the indie-rock/pop magic that fans are so used to seeing from the band, and arguably is the most 1975 project we’ve heard since their beloved self-titled era. Coming out of the pandemic, this new album once again has listeners pining for what Healy, the man behind the lyrics, and someone who has never held back in his whole life – let alone in his art – has to say. Past 1975 songs include Healy’s musings on drug addiction, the evolution of technology, sex, religion, and politics to name a few. Yet somehow, coming from a band who never fails to surprise, their newest album might be their biggest surprise yet: Being Funny In a Foreign Language is the most sincere we’ve ever seen them.
The album opens with a predictable track promptly named “The 1975,” which can be seen on every album in their discography. Healy has described this opening as a “checking in,” an update for the audience of what they’ve been feeling or experiencing in the years gone by. In this fifth rendition of the song, Healy muses on the current state of the world for young people with a fast piano backing: ”I’m sorry if you’re livin’ and you’re seventeen, I heard it’s en vogue to be super thin,” and holds himself accountable for his past behavior that could have been harmful: “I’m sorry about my twenties, I was learnin’ the ropes, I had a tendency of thinkin’ about it after I spoke.” For him, it is time to “call it like it is,” and be honest about the emotional repercussions of this society on the youth, and introspect on our contribution to it. The closing post-chorus repetition of, “I’m sorry if you’re livin’ and you’re seventeen,” is reminiscent of past references to teenage behavior in 1975’s early songs like “Girls” and “Sex,” but this time in a more serious, sympathetic tone.
Following the sincerity of the opening track are songs “Happiness” and “Looking for Somebody (To Love),” two very different depictions of honesty when it comes to love. The former has a modern jazzy sound and saxophone solos paired with bright lyrics including, “she showed me what love is,” and, “I would go blind just to see you, I’d go too far just to have you near.” Just like the title suggests, this song is pure happiness for the dance floor, and proves that a band famous for being emo and emotionally complicated can make an impact through simplicity. The latter however, is a classic 1975 track in its ability to hide a dark theme within an upbeat tune. “Looking for Somebody (To Love)” is an 80s inspired pop song with lyrics that depict what happens when toxic masculinity reaches dangerous heights, especially in the gun violence capital of the world: America. This picture is set up within the first verse, “Somebody runnin’ through the field, Somebody shoulda stayed home, Somebody pickin’ up the body of somebody they were gettin’ to know”. The following verses describe “incel culture” and the toxic masculinity that the community fosters for young men who crave love and affection without knowing how to earn it. The song is eerily poignant in the age of Andrew Tate and modern-day misogyny on the internet, a topic especially important to Healy, who stated in an interview for Apple Music, “We have to try and figure this crisis out because there are so many young men that don’t really have guidance, and a toxic masculinity is inevitable if we don’t address the way we communicate with them.”
Subsequent tracks include “Oh Caroline,” a pop anthem about “all-consuming love,” “I’m In Love With You,” the most straightforward the band has ever been in communicating romantic feelings, and “All I Need to Hear,” a piano ballad filled with honest yearning. But what could be the most exciting track for fans of the band is “About You,” a musical continuation of the 2013 song “Robbers,” a 1975 cult classic. The song has similar sounding reverb and orchestral arrangements that will take you right back into your middle school emo phase (that we all never left). In the chorus, Healy devastatingly repeats, “Do you think I have forgotten about you,” reminiscing on the toxic love story painted in “Robbers.” Being Funny In a Foreign Language is an enigma in its ability to be both a comforting familiarity to long-time fans of the band and a surprisingly fresh perspective on themes long written about. The 1975 have proven album after album with their constantly evolving sound that they deserve longevity in this industry, and in this new era, that sincerity may not be so scary after all.