Though it may not reach quite the same heights as its stellar predecessor, Notes on a Conditional Form is a sprawling and daring and dizzying record from Britain’s biggest band. Ranging across 93 minutes, the Manchester-based pop stars cover it all: symphonic instrumentals, computer escapades, UK garage tracks, acoustic strummers, new wave anthems, R&B ballads, piano soft rockers, and sample-laden love songs. It is a lot. After the critically-acclaimed A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships, most bands might pare it down and chase tentpole hits, which Matt Healey seems to be able to write in his sleep. But The 1975 are evolving into a very different 21st century pop animal, seeking out wide-screen explorations across multiple genres while retaining their pop-oriented instincts.
Healey’s lyrical digressions still drive the band’s scruffy, millennial charm. Self-referential, hyperactive, and empathetic, he writes about losing a sense of personal security, strange party conversations, new floor plans, bad dates, and a couple's arguments; the sort of things you would expect from a 31-year old omnivorous aesthete in the middle of a heady social life and an unexpected run on the world's stage. Given the tight-knit band's massive success, little wonder he saves his deepest affections for closing track "Guys," a love song about his bandmates: Right then I realized you're the love of my life.
Drummer/producer George Daniel deserves the most love. His boundary-hopping soundscapes are luxuriant and complex, ably serving Healey's stops and starts and whims. They also exude a steady sense of contemplation; no matter the subject, his multi-faceted arrangements breathe cinematic life into quiet or manic moments.
After the band's first two records garnered a huge fan base with big synth-pop hooks, few listeners could have predicted the experimentation or virtuosity coming on Inquiry and Notes. But having seen The 1975’s fantastic live show, where every impulse is on full display, it is not a stretch to believe in their current and future canonical power.
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