Summary:The fourth full-length studio release for the British rock band features guest appearances from Phoebe Bridgers, Cutty Ranks, FKA Twigs, Tim Healy, and Greta Thunberg.
We are right now in the beginning of a climate and ecological crisis, and we need to call it what it is: an emergency. We must acknowledge that we do...
The 1975 have somehow put out an album made for introspection and headphone listening and dancing around your living room, something deep and sprawling and occasionally silly to dig deep into over many listens, during which your favourite track will shift on a daily basis. Something that requires time and attention – something just right for now.
In many ways, it's a lot to take in at once, but that's not necessarily a bad thing because it shows a level of unquenchable ambition, creativity, and outspoken curiosity that's rarely felt in popular music today.
If this is their worst album, and you might believe that it is, then they very well may be the best band in the world. If quality is more important that quantity, then they must simply be the worst band in the world. It’s all about perspective, and at 80 minutes and 22 songs, you’d expect some measure of clarity to emerge from Notes On A Conditional Form. What you do get is a Taylor Swift album in the midst of five great songs, five decent tracks and 12 give-or-takes. And that, in today’s artistic climate, is tantamount to excellence.
Had they filtered the cacophony of ideas a little more, ‘Notes…’ could have matched ‘A Brief Inquiry…’ as a modern-day classic; as it stands, its legacy looks set to be slightly more conditional.
This album takes a different, more meandering approach compared to Brief Inquiry, and that may be its greatest weakness: Notes on a Conditional Form is simply too long. ... Still, where Notes works, the 1975 prove themselves to be surprisingly efficient craftsmen, even as they sound ridiculous.
A smug farrago in which each track grates against the next like rusted gears. In between the nonsense – meaningless orchestral interludes and indistinguishable dance tracks inspired by Jon Hopkins and Bonobo – there are flashes of promise, mostly in the instrumentation. Even this is lost to inconsistent mixing.
The 1975 are not afraid to experiment. Throughout this album, you can hear pop, punk, eletronic, 80s pop-rock, orchestral pieces andThe 1975 are not afraid to experiment. Throughout this album, you can hear pop, punk, eletronic, 80s pop-rock, orchestral pieces and everything you can imagine. Expect the unexpected. The 1975 have the best albums out there and this one is no different. Personally, it's my favourite album by the band and one of the best ones ever released. The critics gave it poor numbers because they are afraid of what's different from mainstream. Really, if you want an album that is all about feelings and not really sounds, there you go! The 1975 did THAT again.…Expand
The 1975 somehow cover a myriad of genres, and cover them well. Moving through heavy rock, garage, country, dance, and folk music, thisThe 1975 somehow cover a myriad of genres, and cover them well. Moving through heavy rock, garage, country, dance, and folk music, this eclectic album somehow offers a range of huge ideas without feeling overly cluttered and overwhelming. The enormous track listing may appear over blown and bloated, it's necessary to explore the ideas that rattle around in Healy's head. All of this before the production. Just wow. George Daniel has truly outdone himself, displaying why he's one of the most exciting and versatile producers around.
Stick about. There's more this band have to offer.…Expand
It was a nice album, starting between two very coherent songs, but the album continues in different directions between electronic indie rockIt was a nice album, starting between two very coherent songs, but the album continues in different directions between electronic indie rock and 90s even dancehall rhythms, the goal of sound experimentation is remarkable, but I am missing the common one. thread.…Expand
The fourth full-length release from The 1975 sees them explore house music, orchestral soundtracks, and acoustic ballads. It comes aboutThe fourth full-length release from The 1975 sees them explore house music, orchestral soundtracks, and acoustic ballads. It comes about a-year-and-a-half after their third album, "A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships", which was my second favorite album from the group.
I personally wasn't too enthralled by the singles that were released to promote the album. I thought "People", "Me & You Together Song", and "If You're Too Shy (Let Me Know) were great songs, but the singles felt haphazardly released.
This theme of haphazardness runs through the album. I found the opening ambient "The 1975" to be nice, but perhaps a bit too long. The whole album itself is too long. Twenty-two tracks is way too long for what this album ends up being. "People" is a sudden change of pace to hard-hitting punk. However, I find the two orchestra interludes after the first few tracks are not the most substantive. They sound beautiful, but what purpose do they serve? That isn't clear.
Other tracks come and go. The UK garage anthem, "Frail State of Mind" is a peak into singer Matty Healy's psyche as well as the folk-driven tune, "The Birthday Party". Nevertheless, I find some of the next few songs to be not as entertaining. "Then Because She Goes" does not really hold my attention and "Roadkill" has the same effect on me.
"Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America" is one of the more accessible songs on the album with Phoebe Bridgers contributing her lush vocals to the track. "I Think There's Something You Should Know"' and "Yeah I Know" are also entertaining with their trippy drum machines and modular synths driving the track.
But "Notes On A Conditional Form" really falls flat on cohesion. This feels less like an album and more like a playlist, and perhaps that's the point. However, The 1975 have always been known for their cohesion, even in long-winded albums like 2016's "I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It". Songs like "Nothing Revealed / Everything Denied" and "Tonight (I Wish I Was Your Boy) start off promising but end up chasing other ideas than those that were originally introduced.
"Shiny Collarbone" and "Having No Head" are other examples of the group choosing quantity over quality. The house & garage musical motifs have already made themselves present, but the group knows how to double down on those sounds and make it feel less special than it originally felt.
Not all is lost, however. There are some highlights in the latter half of "Notes". The 80s synthpop tune, "If You're Too Shy (Let Me Know)" is one of the band's finest moments thus far. It recalls the sounds of their first two records. "What Should I Say" is groovy fun while "Don't Worry" and "Guys" can make you cry and call your friends.
"Notes On A Conditional Form" is definitely a unique and ambitious album by The 1975. However, its ambition itself is its main downfall. If the album were cut eight songs shorter then there might be more cohesion. Nonetheless, there are some great highlights in this album from the English group.…Expand
At this point in time I’ve listened to the entire “The 1975” catalogue, with 2016’s I Like It When You Sleep being one of my all time favoriteAt this point in time I’ve listened to the entire “The 1975” catalogue, with 2016’s I Like It When You Sleep being one of my all time favorite albums. Notes On A Conditional Form is unlike every other album the band has made in that a quarter of the tracks aren’t needed and it makes the album feel bloated and longer than it needs to be. Songs like “Yeah I know” and “Shiny Collarbone” are great beats with lackluster feeing (even by 1975 standards) with one line repeated over and over. Ambient Interludes or instrumentals have been a 1975 staple but, in the past those interludes felt needed to convey feeling or connect 2 songs but on this album most of them feel like they were made just to be made, to fill the album out. The album feels rushed or it leaves you with that feeling because it’s all over the place, lacking direction of what the album wants to be. Most of the singles including “The Birthday Party” (probably my favorite song of theirs on any album) and “If You’re Too Shy” are true hits but the rest of the album doesn’t standout from those initial singles. This leaves me with the feeling that a quarter of the album could of been scrapped and it should of been 13-14 songs. The intro track “The 1975” does not start the album well for me. It’s a speech from Greta Thunberg about the fallout of the global warming crisis we’re all facing. I’m a huge advocate for the environment but it just doesn’t seem to fit the album or feel right to start the album with Greta’s long winded speech. When replaying the album I often skip this track, track 2 “People” and track 3 “The End” It just feels like it’s not the right start, starting the album instead on track 4 “Frail State of Mind”. Some tracks show promise and push the band in a new direction like “Nothing Revealed / Everything Denied” a brutally honest slow rap that has a great gospel-like chorus but again it feels out of place when listening to the 2 or 3 tracks before it and the tracks after it “Tonight” and “Shiny Collarbone” 2 tracks I feel weren't needed at all.
I feel like this album either should of been worked on longer with more thought put into the direction and the message they wanted to convey or I could also see the album being released earlier with 7-9 less songs with what happened being that they just kept adding songs because they made them. The album has some great songs but it’s just not cohesive with the others. In the past, The 1975 have created albums that everyone should listen to because of how well they produce, how great they are at stringing songs together track to track and their ability to convey important messages. Whether it be about coming of age or the social anxieties we all face including ones with technology. I don’t feel like this album is good enough to say that about. 5/10…Expand
