I was taking stock of my CD collection the other day and came to the realization that I hadn’t yet taken the time to listen to The 1975’s latest release, Notes on a Conditional Form, which hit shelves this past May after some delay. Yes, originally this album was to serve as sort of a sister album to A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships and be released last year, but got delayed almost a whole year after the fact.
It’s been sitting on my shelf since May, and I’m a little shamed about the delay in giving it a listen. However, I warn you now, I’m sort of glad I did wait. I say that because it was perhaps one of the worst albums I’ve ever listened to. Firstly, I was shocked when I flipped it over and saw 22 tracks. If this were a One Direction album I’d be thrilled, but it just seemed so out of character for this band, and with all of the delays on the records release, I had some reservations.
Rightfully so! There was literally no cohesion to this album! It started with Greta Thunberg’s global warming speech, which, why? Yes, global warming is serious and it’s a good speech, but it had absolutely no correlation with the rest of the record. There were also a handful of instrumental tracks that sounded more like what you’d hear at a club. That’s all well and good except those tracks were thrown in between really melodic and slow songs! With that being said, I’m not usually a fan of slow songs and this album reminded me why.
Really, the only song I really liked was “People.” That’s because it was grungy and remined me a bit of the old 1975, back in the EP days. Again, though, this song did not fit with anything else on the record. Alone, it was a hit, but with the bunch it stuck out like a goth kid at Coachella. The only other tolerable song was the “Me & you Together Song.” I enjoyed it, but the instrumentals sounded like they were throwing up. There is no possible way it will sound good live. Aside from all that, Matty’s vocals were as smooth as ever which also just seemed a bit odd. Again, I can’t see it translating well to a live setting.
All in all, listening to Notes on a Conditional Form was an abysmal waste of an hour and ten minutes of my life. Go pick Declan McKenna’s latest, or Run the Jewels. Anything but this really. Stick to the singles and you’ll be alright, and remember, quantity does not equal quality.