The 1975

Jenn Five

The 1975 are an English indie band who formed in Manchester. The quartet is comprised of Matt Healy (vocals, guitar), Adam Hann (guitar), Ross MacDonald (bass) and George Daniel (drums). The group formed in 2004 and played under different names like Talkhouse, The Big Sleep, The Slowdown and Drive Like I Do. They started using the name The 1975 in 2012, after Healy saw the date “1 June, The 1975” in the back of a beat poetry book.

The band put out four EPs before the release of their debut album. The first of these, ‘Facedown’, was released on August 6 2012 and was followed by ‘Sex’, ‘Music For Cars’ and ‘IV’. Their self-titled first LP was then released on September 2 2013. It was recorded at Liverpool’s Motor Museum with Mike Crossey (Arctic Monkeys, Jake Bugg, Foals) and was released on Dirty Hit. It went to Number One in the UK and has since gone platinum.

The 1975 have toured consistently since their formation and have supported the likes of Muse, The Neighbourhood and Bastille. They played three sold out headline shows at London’s Brixton Academy in January 2014 before headlining Royal Albert Hall in April 2014 and Alexandra Palace in September 2014.

On 15 October 2015, the band announced their second studio album ‘I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful but so unaware of it’ which reached number 1 in the UK, Australia, US, Canada, New Zealand and Scotland and was one of a handful of albums to top the charts in the UK and US simultaneously. The album was later released on 26 February 2016 with numerous singles such as ‘Love Me’ and ‘Ugh’ debuted in the latter end of 2015. Not only did the album achieve major success in terms of charts, it also became the second longest album name to reach number 1 in the UK, and first in the US. Speaking to NME, frontman Matty Healy claimed ‘The world needs this album’ and despite the ambitious nature of the album, the tracks have been thoroughly praised. The third single from the album ‘The Sound’, was debuted on 14 January 2016 and reached number 15 in the UK Charts.

In addition to the long title, the track list provides a lengthy listening with 75 minutes worth of songs. In a cover interview with NME, Healy states he is “challenging people to sit through an hour and 15 minutes and 17 songs that all sound completely different from each other” and rather than following in the same direction as 21st century pop artists, the aforementioned album is “an emotional investment… it’s art”. Healy’s pretentious nature is one that was often questioned however has been appreciated in recent performances and added to the band’s unique voice.

Their Glastonbury performance in the summer of 2016 saw the singer offer an unprecedented opinion on Brexit. With many artists concealing their political outlooks, Healy gave a minute long speech over the injustice of Brexit on young people, wrote NME. He passionately expressed “I know what a lot of people my age feel is that there’s this sentiment of anti-compassion that’s spread across an older generation and voted in a future that we don’t fucking want”, a statement that came after an anti-Brexit campaign on social media, featuring the band’s infamous neon lights which have been seen on their album art and stage sets.

The band recently released a further track ‘How to Draw’ as a free download on Twitter and are set to perform dates across the UK and US after summer festivals, in the autumn of 2016.