An Experience Through the Postmodern Lens: The 1975’s Being Funny In A Foreign Language

Graphic by Anya Perel-Arkin

By Izzy Desmarais

Girls who were too young to fully participate in the 2014 Tumblr neo-grunge aesthetic finally have their chance with The 1975’s new record, Being Funny In A Foreign Language. Released this past Friday, October 14th, the prominent British pop-rock band’s fifth studio album is a return to form. Although this sound is most reminiscent of their debut, The 1975 (2013), its lyrics refrain from inspiring the glamorization of drug use and toxic relationships. Instead, the band considers these themes through a critically self aware lens and creates profound sentiments on modernity. It is important to note that while these songs sound similar to their debut, there will never be a full revival of that era. Frontman Matty Healy was struggling with a heroin addiction for much of those early years — this influenced many of the songs from their first few albums, tapping into a place of pain and vulnerability. With Healy’s recovery came a change in his musical expression, demonstrating tremendous growth not only as an artist but as a person. 

Every album from the band begins with a song titled “The 1975.” For the first three records, the lyrics remained the same: “Go down / Soft sound / Midnight / Car lights / Playing with the air / Breathing in your hair / Go down / Soft sound / Step into your skin / I’d rather jump in your bones / Taking up your mouth, so breathe through your nose.” What changes is the instrumentals, letting the listener know what sort of sound they were in for on this new record. They first broke this lyrical pattern on their last album, Notes On A Conditional Form (2020), where a speech by climate activist Greta Thunberg is layered over ambient piano. Here, they’ve changed it again, except this time it’s an introspective, 4-minute long track. 

I’m just going to say it right here, right now: “The 1975” is the best song on the record. There’s this beautiful, overwhelming swell of music with frantic keys, discordant strings, bright horns, and a hint of synthesizer. Its lyrics reach the masses in an incredibly bleak way — “You’re makin’ an aesthetic out of not doing well / And minin’ all the bits of you you think you can sell” — commenting on self-destructive tendencies influenced by social pressures in the Digital Age. This happened in the early 2010s with blogs graphically detailing mental illness paired with aesthetically pleasing photos of a girl in fishnets smoking a cigarette. It continues to happen with TikTok, where you can live-post your emotional breakdown as relatable content. Healy feels especially for the younger generation growing up with these anxieties, simply putting it with the line: “I’m sorry if you’re living and you’re seventeen.” 

I’m not sure how else to describe it other than the opening track to my coming of age film. I can see it so clearly in my head — it’s grey and it’s starting to rain. I’m riding a bike down a beach road in Westport, Massachusetts. The coastal wind is blowing furiously through my hair and it’s making my eyes water, or maybe I’ve been crying, I’m not sure. This is the song that’s playing as it all happens. Guys, I don’t even know how to ride a bike. This is how strong of a feeling I get while listening to this song. 

Most of The 1975’s discography can be split into one of two categories — effervescent Britpop that’s easy to dance to or slow jazz influenced ballads. Being Funny In A Foreign Language delivers both — tracks like “Happiness,” “Oh Caroline,” and “I’m In Love With You” are new upbeat, lighthearted songs fans can sing along to at live performances. “Looking For Somebody (To Love)” is another bright tune, but its lyrics tackle serious subject matter. Hidden underneath electro pop guitar riffs and catchy harmonies is an interesting meditation on mass shootings and toxic masculinity. I think this song could easily be misinterpreted, especially coming from Problematic King Healy, but it avoids sounding empathetic towards individuals who decide to take someone else’s life. Instead, they focus on the destructive nature of gender norms and how it can lead men down a dark path  — while effortlessly striking a balance between sarcasm and sincerity with lines like “I wanna show him he’s a bitch / I wanna fuck him up good / I wanna smash the competition, go and kill it like a man should.” On the other side of the same coin, “Human Too” and “All I Need To Hear” remind me of tracks on I Like It When You Sleep… (2016) or A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships (2018) with deeper tones, soothing instrumentals, and emotional lyrics. 

The 1975 brought in superstar producer Jack Antonoff to work on this record — his influence is evident on tracks like “Part Of The Band,” “Wintering,” and “When We Are Together.” All three step away from their signature electronic sound and are much more subdued, incorporating acoustic guitars, horns, and more string arrangements. Sonically, they could fit right in on Antonoff’s latest record under his stage name Bleachers, Take The Sadness Out Of Saturday Night (2021). However, its lyrics are still laced with that snarky, quick-witted, and annoying intelligence that Healy is known for. My favorite line on the entire record is from “Part of the Band” — “I know some Vaccinista tote bag chic baristas / Sitting east on their communista keisters / Writing about their ejaculations.” He’s so smart without even trying and it truly makes me want to scream sometimes. Just… what the heck! Matty Healy, you cheeky little devil!

Penultimate track, “About You,” is already receiving incredible attention on TikTok. Officially deemed as a continuation of their song “Robbers” — a fan favorite from their debut — and everyone is losing their minds over it. Focusing on the same toxic relationship depicted nine years earlier, it offers a much healthier perspective as the couple has since broken up. An extraordinary amount of growth and self actualization is demonstrated in this song, highlighted by this understanding that it is possible to miss someone from your past without wanting to go back. This is expressed in the first verse — “I know a place / It’s somewhere I go when I need to remember your face / We get married in our heads / Something to do while we try to recall how we met” — and in the chorus — “Do you think I have forgotten / About you?” Carly Holt, wife of guitarist Adam Hann, is featured on the track singing from the ex-girlfriend’s perspective. Her line — “There was something about you that I can’t remember / It’s the same damn thing that made my heart surrender” — captures the meaning of this song beautifully. There’s clearly a lot of love between the two, but they know it’s not feasible to ever get back together. This story paired with atmospheric instrumentals makes it a great song to score my next shower cry.

This has to be my favorite release from The 1975 since I Like It When You Sleep… It not only revels in the nostalgia of the early 2010s, but reframes how we should indulge in these guilty pleasures. A feat in songwriting and record production alike, Being Funny In A Foreign Language will undoubtedly go down as one of the band’s best works.