Notes on a Conditional Form is the long-awaited fourth album from The 1975. The record offers a lot of new music (twenty-two tracks), covering broad themes like life in the digital age, drug addiction, and the current environmental state of our planet. While there are still songs reminiscent of the typical, pop-synth 1975 sound which they have become well-known for, there is the addition of more house music than we have seen previously. Lead singer Matty Healy has stated that the music on Notes is influenced by the UK garage music he listened to as a teenager. In a time where our attention spans are growing shorter, The 1975 is able to capture our attention—and hold on to it—thanks to the constant juxtaposition of nihilistic lyrics with optimistic beats, and seamless switching from genre to genre.
The first track “The 1975,” is a powerful piece featuring climate activist Greta Thunberg. While this song alone could be enough of a ‘call to action’ for listeners, The 1975 follows it up with an equally powerful screamo-punk hit titled “People.” Both note the crisis our planet and society is in, and our increasing need to do something about it. In “People,” Matty comically sings that “We are appalling and we need to stop just watching shit in bed/And I know it sounds boring and we like things that are funny,” which he includes as a way to prove his point that as a society we use the Internet to ignore the problems we’re facing in reality.
The album slows down after “People” as it moves on to “The Birthday Party,” which is a winding song that mentions topics like drug addiction, small talk with strangers, and the trivial problems of a romantic couple. Its oddly specific lyrics and casual delivery adds to the charm of the song. Other slower-paced songs include the satirical “Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America,” and insightful “Playing On My Mind,” which both feature vocals by Phoebe Bridgers. In the latter Matty sings, “I won’t get clothes online because I get worried about the fit/But that rule don’t apply concerning my relationships.” This is just one of the many lines on the album in which Matty critiques the relationship society has formed with the Internet.
The most noticeable difference between Notes and The 1975’s previous albums is the increasing amount of tracks that are instrumental or house music. While this genre is not an entirely new realm for The 1975 (for example “How To Draw / Petrichor” on A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships), the band definitely seems to be experimenting with this genre more than they have done before. Songs like “Yeah I Know” and “I Think There’s Something You Should Know” are a couple standouts in this category, but these are just two of the many on the new album. The inclusion of so many ambient songs has led to some criticism for Notes. These tracks do increase the length of the album and prohibit the band from conveying a concise message, but they also help in creating a more modern tone for an album discussing modern issues.
Overall, the album has a decent amount of hits. Some sound similar to past songs from The 1975, like “Frail State of Mind” and “If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know).” Others sound a bit different, but are still likely to be received positively, such as “What Should I Say” and “Everything Revealed / Nothing Denied.” And while the diversity of the genres may lead some listeners to believe that there is no real sense of direction guiding the record, it actually seems to be intentional in keeping the attention of those of us who (thanks to technology) can barely focus on one thing for more than five minutes.
Listen to the album on Spotify!
Favorite tracks: Frail State of Mind, Yeah I Know, Me & You Together Song, If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know), and What Should I Say
