The 1975 – I’m In Love With You Review

Can bad art be considered bold? In the right setting, yes. An artist or creative actively churning out intentionally bad work should be praised more than those that strive for mediocrity, as The 1975 do. Their placid and likeably broad tones mean the band have yet to cement itself as anything unique. Attractive frontman appeals to people who thought The Fratellis and Two Door Cinema Club had more than one good song by singing of a love they’ll never have. Indie kids don’t deserve love anyway. It’s why I’m In Love With You is such a bland track, and also such a bad one.

For those that “can’t believe they’re back to this sound”, what sound is that, exactly? It is identical to everything before it. Only the criminally insane or the medically prescribed deaf could recall any differences between the loose pop riffs of I’m In Love With You from, say, Chocolate or Sex. Guitar work that feels floaty and loose as an attempt to replicate dreamy emotions are just that, replications. They are not the real deal and never have been. I’m In Love With You is a superb example of just how empty The 1975 are as artists. Understanding how loose and unsound Matt Healy’s writing is can sometimes be difficult. How one man can make so many songs with such little range is a feat of sincere endurance, but it is also one of genuine artistic fatigue.

Not every track has to be the next Highway 61 Revisited, but it would be nice to see The 1975 elevate themselves above a level reserved only for The Hoosiers tribute bands or Hot Chip solo projects. An uninspired chorus marks the real death of quality on this track, which at least has some brief flutters with borderline passable lyricisms. If it weren’t for the ear-grating consistencies of the backing instruments to Healy’s pangs of suffering solipsism, then I’m In Love With You would have marked itself as a quality, forgettable radio buzz for the summer. Too bad it was released in the autumn, then. The 1975’s lack of calendar is matched only by its lack of quality. A track as generic as the title slapped on it. A defining single for the band, not out of quality, but of what it says of Healy and this troupe. Not even Phoebe Bridgers can work anything artistically powerful out of her cameo appearance on the video release.

How much of the love for The 1975 is for Matt Healy, and how much of it is for his actual work? The line is blurred frequently with indie pop groups, but especially a man who sounds like Circa Waves on an off day. The 1975’s latest track is the usual pop beat and shimmering upbeat symmetry that plagued their other tracks, just this one has a Charlie Chaplin caricature at the heart of its music video. So bold and brave it is to riff and rip other artists while providing nothing at all necessary to the scope of this artistic field. Healy and company exhibit another airheaded track that has all the qualities expected of a band whose self-titled album featured a setlist of songs that sounded the exact same. I’m In Love With You is barely out of the ordinary, and would be quietly forgotten if it weren’t for the star power of the frontman.