Notes On A Conditional Form - Album Review

The 1975 were brave enough to release their fourth album to the pandemic-stricken world on Friday. Notes on a Conditional Form marks the end of their brief, two-album Music for Cars era, pairing with 2018’s A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships. With Notes, though, we see a transition in sound that makes the album entirely different from not only A Brief Inquiry, but every other album they’ve put out.

(Note: most of The 1975’s lyrics are draped with political wokeness under the surface, but I’ll be interpreting the songs for their face value. I’m doing this mainly because A.) song lyrics are mostly consumed subjectively, and I don’t want Genius to tell me what I should think about a song, and, more importantly, B.) I have no internet right now. Insert shrugging guy emoji.)

It’s easy to compare the two albums that make up the Music for Cars era, as they both have songs that are interchangeable with the other album. At the same time, the two albums as a whole are impossible to compare. Yes, I know that made sense. Give me one hundred and thirty-seven words to explain.

I’m not entirely sure what the Music for Cars era was supposed to encompass – maybe a catalog of either acoustic or pop-marinated songs – but several songs from Notes lack any true flavor. There is somewhat of a consistency throughout the album in following the above acoustic or pop-marinated formula, but there are a few songs that are corner pieces trying to fit in the center of the puzzle. The most obvious example is the first song released and first actual song on the album, “People.” “People” is the equivalent of a pubescent teenager whose parents just don’t get them. Nothing screams “angsty af” quite like Matty Healy’s overtly edgy microphone screams. “People” doesn’t meld into anything else on the album or with anything that The 1975 has ever released, which is okay in concept, but is trying too hard to be different in this case.

That brings me to Healy’s vocals. Forget the Music for Cars era: Notes should be all by itself in the Trying Weird Things with our Voices era. For some reason – and it may just be my declining, aging hearing – but Healy’s vocals are distorted or altered in roughly 75% of the album. This heavy reliance on studio editing is a long way from the proudly boasted vocals on The 1975’s eponymous 2013 album, and it makes me wonder if Healy’s lost confidence in his voice. “Yeah I Know” is a bland song that doesn’t have a purpose. “Nothing Revealed/ Everything Denied” has a strange, spoken word verse mid-song that sounds like a feature from a robot. Follow that song up with an intro from Alvin and the Chipmunks in “Tonight (I Wish I was Your Boy).” “What Should I Say” could have literally come from a DJ Snake album. “Don’t Worry” is so suffocated by autotune that I’m just gonna pretend I didn’t listen to it.

Now, this is when I mention that all voice alterations aren’t bad. Yes, “What Should I Say” is an electronic song, but at least it’s a painfully catchy one. When Healy sings the title in “Frail State of Mind,” his voice matches the distance and vulnerability of the words, which makes the song that much stronger. But truly, The 1975 is at their best when Healy is able to sing his feelings rather than disguise them. “Me & You Together Song” has a nostalgic feel of reminiscent love that makes my heart glow, for some reason (let’s also not avoid the fact that Matty Healy plays a mean mid-2000’s Andy Samberg look alike in the music video). The peak of the album rests in the 16th slot, as “If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)” is able to drill its way into your brain and force you to tap along and smile while listening. Idk, maybe that’s just me. But at their best, The 1975 is better than anyone at making catchy melodies with groovy guitar chords, and "If You're Too Shy" is a prime example. I just wish Notes had more of those songs.

The 1975 is, simply put, the pinnacle of what every alt-pop band strives for. Even with Notes that, at times, tries too eagerly to try on new identities, The 1975 still sits at the top of the alternative rock mountain, and as long as they continue releasing those same catchy earworms that invoke both fans and newcomers, they’re not going anywhere. Do I want to listen to Notes on a Conditional Form as a whole like I do their other albums? Nah. But I said the same thing initially about A Brief Inquiry before it eventually grew on me after a couple of months, so this album may do the same.

Top 3: Me & You Together Song, If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know), Frail State of Mind

Rating: 57 / 91

(For those who don’t appreciate reverse text or don’t know how calculators work, this is roughly a 6/10)