The 1975 (album)

The 1975
Studio album by the 1975
Released	2 September 2013 (2013-09-02)
Recorded	June – September 2012, March 2013
Studio	Motor Museum (Liverpool)[1]
Genre	Electropop pop rock indie pop pop
Length	50:41
Label	Dirty Hit Polydor Vagrant Interscope
Producer	Matty Healy George Daniel Mike Crossey
The 1975 chronology
IV (2013) The 1975 (2013) I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It (2016)
Singles from The 1975
"Sex" Released: 23 August 2013 "Girls" Released: 11 November 2013 "Settle Down" Released: 24 February 2014 "Robbers" Released: 26 May 2014 "Heart Out" Released: 18 August 2014[2]

The 1975 is the self-titled debut studio album by English band the 1975. It was released on 2 September 2013 through Dirty Hit and Polydor.^[3] It was produced by band members Matty Healy and George Daniel together with Mike Crossey.^[4]

Between Autumn 2012 and Spring 2013, during which time the album was recorded, the band released four EPs. They toured to support and build momentum for the album, including numerous gigs and special appearances with other artists.

The album received positive reviews from critics, and topped the UK Albums Chart on 8 September.^[5] As of August 2023, it had sold 791,000 copies in the UK,^[6] and 1,000,000 copies in the US as of June 2018.^[7]

Background

Between mid-2012 and early 2013, the 1975 released four extended plays: Facedown, Sex, Music for Cars and IV; some of the songs included there would make it onto the album.

The band toured extensively to support the album, raise awareness and build up momentum before dropping the full-length release. They toured London with Bastille and Muse in the second half of The 2nd Law World Tour at the Emirates Stadium on 26 May 2013,^[8] the United States with the Neighbourhood on June,^[9] and London again with the Rolling Stones at Hyde Park on 13 July.^[10] They later played at the Festival Republic Stage at the 2013 Reading and Leeds Festival in August.

Musical style

The album is mostly labeled as rock because of the band, but the wide variety of genres in the album has led to it being described as electropop,^[11][12] indie pop,^[1][11] pop,^{[11][13][14][15][16]} and pop rock.^[11][17][18] It also includes emo,^[19] pop punk,^[19] funk and indie rock elements.^[11]

Frontman Matty Healy described the style as "pretty experimental, and goes from glitchy R&B to big 80s powerpop to mid 90s soul, but it's done in our way obviously."^[1]

Recording

In 2012, in an interview with Elliot Mitchell of When the Gramophone Rings, Healy said that the band had a different approach to recording the album than to the EPs: "I think the best albums are ones where every track could be a potential single. Both our EP's center around a lead track whilst showcasing a wider body of work, whereas we feel the album is lead track after lead track, with all the alternative moments captured in an accessible way." He also said that the album had been "five years in the making, formed through the many different incarnations of the band," and added that it is "drenched in our identity and it's everything that we are. It does span a lot of genres and depth, but it's still a coherent piece of work and everything that makes our band our band, personally I would say it's an ambitious debut record."^[1]

On the content, Healy said:

"This recording process has been really fun, as we've had a lot of these songs for a while, and to record them in a completely different mindset with a completely different outlook has been really interesting. (...) The album isn't a haberdashery of past singles and old stuff, it has been focused down into a collective piece of work. There's tracks on there that people would have heard live, and older tracks that we've reworked. This album is a soundtrack to our formative years, so it would be dishonest to not put songs on there that we wrote when we were 21, as we want people to connect to it in the same way that we do."^[1]

Promotion

Singles

The lead single from the album, a re-recorded version of the song "Sex", was scheduled to be released on 26 August 2013.^[20] The song premiered on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show on 8 July 2013 as his 'Hottest Record in the World'.^[21] A music video for the song was released onto YouTube on 26 July 2013.^[22]

On 27 August 2013, the song "Settle Down" premiered on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show as part of his 'Album of the Week' segment, and on 29 August 2013 "Girls" became Lowe's 'Hottest Record'.^[23]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	6.1/10[24]
Metacritic	67/100[25]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[26]
Alternative Press	[27]
Clash	8/10[14]
Entertainment Weekly	B[28]
The Guardian	[29]
The Independent	[12]
Pitchfork	5.9/10[17]
PopMatters	7/10[30]
Q	[31]
Rolling Stone	[32]

The 1975 received favourable reviews from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 67, based on 17 reviews.^[25]

Ashley Clements of Gigwise called the album "Quite possibly the best indie LP of the year."^[33] Simon Butcher of Clash magazine rated the album 8/10 and wrote: "It's a great pop record with plenty of depth (a rare thing) that will prove divisive. Some will dismiss this band in one listen (or none) as the next Owl City, but with years of playing together already, plenty of fans, and lots of songs ready to go, The 1975 will be one overnight success that'll outlive the critics."^[14]

Dave Reynolds of Bearded magazine noticed similarities between the band's and Michael Jackson's story, and wrote that the "unmistakable '80s aesthetic" reflects a homage to Thriller. "A debut album with 16 tracks should never be able to capture and hold a listeners attention, but The 1975 make a damn good stab at it, with a record littered with pop hooks and imagination. MJ would be proud," he concluded.^[34]

Q defined the 1975 as "possibly the first band to take influence from The Thompson Twins, China Crisis and the long-lost Frazier Chorus." "That makes them sound gloriously out of kilter, but the truth is that their jittery genre-jumping is impossibly now," the magazine continued. "Best of all, for all their rarely lauded influence, this is a band who sound like nobody else right now. Hugely intriguing," concluded reviewer John Aizlewood, giving the album 3/5 stars rating.^[31]

Commercial performance

The album topped the UK Albums Chart on 8 September,^[35] selling 31,538 copies in the first week. On 26 September 2014, it was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales of over 300,000 copies. As of December 2018, it has sold 584,808 copies in the UK.^[36]

In the United States, The 1975 debuted at No. 28 on the Billboard 200,^[37] with around 15,000 copies sold on its first week of release. It also debuted at No. 8 on Billboard's Rock Albums,^[38] and 7 on Alternative Albums.^[39] As of March 2016, the album has sold 349,000 copies in the US.^[7]

Track listing

All tracks are written by George Daniel, Matthew Healy, Adam Hann and Ross MacDonald

The 1975 track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The 1975"	1:19
2.	"The City"	3:26
3.	"M.O.N.E.Y."	3:36
4.	"Chocolate"	3:47
5.	"Sex"	3:27
6.	"Talk!"	2:47
7.	"An Encounter"	1:14
8.	"Heart Out"	3:22
9.	"Settle Down"	3:59
10.	"Robbers"	4:14
11.	"Girls"	4:15
12.	"12"	1:19
13.	"She Way Out"	3:59
14.	"Menswear"	3:26
15.	"Pressure"	3:41
16.	"Is There Somebody Who Can Watch You"	2:54

Deluxe edition

In addition to the standard edition of the album, a double CD deluxe edition was also released, with the second disc containing the band's four EPs: Facedown, Sex, Music for Cars and IV. The iTunes deluxe edition contains additional remixes, making a total of 39 tracks.^[40] For the Sex EP, the gap of silence between "You" and "Milk" is reduced from 19 minutes to nearly 3.

Deluxe edition – Facedown EP

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Facedown"	2:49
2.	"The City" (EP version)	3:41
3.	"Antichrist"	4:43
4.	"Woman"	3:02

Deluxe edition – Sex EP

No.	Title	Length
5.	"Intro/Set3"	3:07
6.	"Undo"	4:04
7.	"Sex" (EP version)	3:26
8.	"You" ("You" lasts for 4:51; hidden track "Milk", which lasts for 2:12, starts at 7:36)	9:52

Deluxe edition – Music for Cars EP

No.	Title	Length
9.	"Anobrain"	1:53
10.	"Chocolate"	3:43
11.	"HNSCC"	2:31
12.	"Head.Cars.Bending"	3:27
13.	"Me"	4:35

Deluxe edition – IV EP

No.	Title	Length
14.	"The City" (single version)	3:44
15.	"Haunt // Bed"	5:05
16.	"So Far (It's Alright)"	4:00
17.	"Fallingforyou"	4:00

iTunes deluxe edition – remixes^[41]

No.	Title	Length
18.	"Chocolate" (Jonas LR remix)	5:15
19.	"Pressure" (Artful remix)	4:36
20.	"Talk!" (Hackman remix)	4:53
21.	"M.O.N.E.Y." (Mike Skinner remix)	5:14
22.	"Settle Down" (Dan Lissvik remix)	6:25
23.	"She Way Out" (Cid Rim remix)	4:56

Personnel

The 1975 Matthew Healy – vocals, guitar, piano, production (tracks 7, 12 and 16) Adam Hann – guitar Ross MacDonald – bass guitar George Daniel – drums, programming, synthesizers, production (tracks 7, 12 and 16), photography Additional musicians John Waugh – saxophone

Technical personnel The 1975 – production (all tracks except 7, 12 and 16) Mike Crossey – mixing, production (all tracks except 7, 12 and 16), additional programming Mike Spink – engineering Jonathan Gilmore – Pro-Tools engineering, additional programming Robin Schmidt – mastering Samüel Johnson – design David Drake – photography David Ma – photography

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for The 1975 Chart (2013–2015) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[42] 29 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[43] 60 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[44] 191 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[45] 57 Irish Albums (IRMA)[46] 4 Japanese Album Chart (Oricon)[47] 37 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[48] 5 Scottish Albums (OCC)[49] 1 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[50] 100 UK Albums (OCC)[51] 1 US Billboard 200[52] 28 US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[53] 7 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[54] 8 Chart (2023) Peak position Irish Albums (IRMA)[55] 28 Scottish Albums (OCC)[56] 4 UK Albums (OCC)[57] 3

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for The 1975 Chart (2013) Position UK Albums (OCC)[58] 64 Chart (2014) Position UK Albums (OCC)[59] 33 US Billboard 200[60] 141 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[61] 25 US Alternative Albums (Billboard)[62] 20 Chart (2015) Position US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[63] 70 Chart (2016) Position UK Albums (OCC)[64] 74

Certifications

Certifications for The 1975

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[65]	Gold	35,000^‡
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[66]	Gold	10,000^‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[67]	Platinum	15,000^‡
Singapore (RIAS)[68]	Gold	5,000^*
United Kingdom (BPI)[69]	2× Platinum	600,000^‡
United States (RIAA)[70]	Platinum	1,000,000^‡
^* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Release history and formats for The 1975

Country	Date	Format	Label
United Kingdom[22]	2 September 2013	CD DL LP	Dirty Hit Polydor
United States[22]	3 September 2013		Vagrant

See also

• The 1975 discography
• List of songs by Matty Healy

References

1. Mitchell, Elliot (7 November 2012). "Introducing... The 1975 (Interview)". When the Gramophone Rings. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
2. Lane, Daniel (18 August 2014). "This Week's New Releases 18-08-2014". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
3. "The 1975 Announce Debut Album And New September 2013 UK Tour Dates". Contactmusic.com. Archived from the original on 7 October 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
4. "The 1975 reveal new album artwork and tracklisting". NME. 24 June 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
5. "Chart Archive > Artists > The 1975". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
6. Griffiths, George (31 August 2023). "The chart legacy and influence of The 1975's debut album". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
7. RIAA Certification, 8 June 2018
8. Baggs, Michael (23 April 2013). "The 1975 join Bastille to support Muse at May London gig". Gigwise. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
9. "The 1975 Will Hit the Road for U.S. Tour With the Neighbourhood in June and Headline Two West Coast Shows in July". Yahoo. 25 April 2013. Archived from the original on 30 August 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
10. McCormick, Neil (19 May 2013). "Introducing The 1975, support act to the Rolling Stones". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
11. Ravat, Chloe (20 August 2013). "Gigwise. The 1975 track by track review". Gigwise. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
12. Gill, Andy (30 August 2013). "Album review: The 1975, The 1975 (Polydor)". The Independent. Archived from the original on 12 September 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
13. Gardner, Ryan (2 September 2013). "The 1975 – The 1975 – Album Review". Absolute Punk. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
14. Butcher, Simon (23 August 2013). "The 1975 – The 1975". Clash. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
15. Levy, Pat (30 November 2015). "Album Review: The 1975 - The 1975". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
16. Day, Laurence (26 August 2013). "Album Review: The 1975 - The 1975". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
17. Greene, Jayson (12 September 2013). "The 1975: The 1975". Pitchfork. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
18. Snapes, Laura (25 February 2016). "The 1975 I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it". Pitchfork. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
19. Interrante, Scott (15 October 2013). "The 1975: The 1975". PopMatters. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
20. "The 1975 Single 'Sex' To Be Lead For Upcoming Debut Album". daystune.com. 18 July 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
21. Corner, Lewis (9 July 2013). "The 1975 confirm new single 'Sex' – listen". Digital Spy. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
22. "The 1975 – Sex (Album Version)". 26 July 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2013 – via YouTube.
23. "BBC Radio 1 – Zane Lowe, The 1975 Hottest Record, The 1975". BBC Radio 1. 29 August 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
24. "The 1975 by The 1975 reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
25. "Reviews for The 1975 by The 1975". Metacritic. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
26. Collar, Matt. "The 1975 – The 1975 Album Reviews, Songs & More". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
27. Freeman, Phil (3 September 2013). "The 1975 – The 1975". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on 7 September 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
28. Rahman, Ray (5 September 2013). "The 1975". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
29. Hann, Michael (29 August 2013). "The 1975: The 1975 – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
30. Interrante, Scott (15 September 2013). "The 1975: The 1975". PopMatters. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
31. Aizlewood, John (October 2013). "The 1975: The 1975". Q (327): 97.
32. Ganz, Caryn (18 October 2013). "The 1975". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
33. Clements, Ashley (2 September 2013). "The 1975 – The 1975 (Dirty Hit)". Gigwise. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
34. Reynolds, Dave (29 August 2013). "The 1975: The 1975 (Dirty Hit)". Bearded. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
35. "The 1975 score debut Number 1 album". Official Charts Company. 8 September 2013.
36. Jones, Alan (7 December 2018). "Charts analysis: The 1975 do the hat-trick at albums summit". Music Week. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
37. "Billboard 200". Billboard. 21 September 2013.
38. "Top Rock Albums". Billboard. 21 September 2013.
39. "Alternative Albums". Billboard. 21 September 2013.
40. "The 1975 2CD Album at Universal Music". Universal Music Store. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
41. "The 1975 (Deluxe Edition) by The 1975". iTunes Store. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
42. "Australiancharts.com – The 1975 – The 1975". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
43. "Austriancharts.at – The 1975 – The 1975" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
44. "Ultratop.be – The 1975 – The 1975" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
45. "Offiziellecharts.de – The 1975 – The 1975" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
46. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 36, 2013". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
47. "The 1975 – The 1975". Retrieved 20 August 2014.
48. "Charts.nz – The 1975 – The 1975". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
49. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
50. "Swisscharts.com – The 1975 – The 1975". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
51. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
52. "The 1975 Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
53. "The 1975 Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
54. "The 1975 Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
55. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 36, 2013". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
56. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
57. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
58. "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 - 2013". Official Charts.
59. "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 - 2014". Official Charts.
60. "Top Billboard 200 Albums: 2014 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
61. "Top Rock Albums: 2014 Year-End Charts". Billboard.
62. "Alternative Albums: 2014 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Retrieved 16 January 2015. (subscription required)
63. "Top Rock Albums : Dec 31, 2015 | Billboard Chart Archive". Billboard. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
64. "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2016". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
65. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2018 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association.
66. "Danish album certifications – The 1975 – The 1975". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
67. "New Zealand album certifications – The 1975 – The 1975". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
68. "Singapore album certifications – The 1975 – The 1975". Recording Industry Association Singapore. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
69. "British album certifications – The 1975 – The 1975". British Phonographic Industry.
70. "American album certifications – The 1975 – The 1975". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 13 June 2018.

External links

• The 1975 at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)