The 1975
A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships

“‘A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships’ is the ‘Ok Computer’ of The 1975”.

Someone has already made such a bold comparison regarding the third release by Matty Healy's band. Time will tell if it is a clear exaggeration from the first-listen euphoria, but undeniably, there is a strong desire to validate what has been shouted to the sky by the usual NME and company. The growth process of this very young Albion band has terrifyingly taken off in a rather unpredictable way. At the incredibly challenging test of the third album, with the incredible and still relatively fresh success of the second album behind them (topping both the USA and UK charts on the second attempt is not something to be taken lightly, especially for a non-American pop-rock group), Healy and his companions opted for the least comfortable and predictable path: pushing the pedal on ambition. And the result is stunning.

“A Brief Inquiry…” is an incredibly rich and varied album, showcasing a remarkable number of arrows in its quiver, and that's not all: it is part of a larger project called “Music For Cars” which will be completed with a second album in May 2019, “Notes On A Conditional Form”. It will be interesting to see if this second episode will include discarded and therefore less convincing pieces, because the quality of this first half is absolutely high: the Albion band takes many risks, condensing an incredible number of influences, ideas, and melodic twists into fourteen tracks.

There are no big, ultra-accessible singles like in the previous episode: missing is a “UGH!”, a “The Sound”, or a “She’s American”, to be clear. The five tracks released to tease the album come close: the sparkling synths of “Give Yourself A Try” (which sounds as if Death Cab For Cutie had taken acid), the callback to early The 1975 in “Love It If We Made It”, and the classy bubblegum pop of “TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME” above all. No less impressive are the rarefied atmospheres with jazzy piano of “Sincerity Is Scary” (splendid) and the nod to the sounds of the successful previous album with “It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You)”.

A welcome novelty is also the newfound taste for guitar (or piano) and voice ballads (“Be My Mistake”, “Surrounded By Heads And Bodies”), and Healy and company certainly do not shy away from experimenting with new solutions, as seen in the curious fusion between ambient and solo Thom Yorke in the masterful “How To Draw / Petrichor”, the jazz (again) of “Mine”, and the conclusion entrusted to the cinematic alt rock of the delightful “I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)”.

No, “A Brief Inquiry…” is not the new “Ok Computer”, but in any case, it is the “Ok Computer” of The 1975 (with the duly appropriate proportions). If it confirms these English lads at the top of the charts, however, it is a record that could prove one fundamental thing: you can dare without losing an ounce of appeal, provided there is talent. And at that point, yes, we would be talking about a “game changer”, as the Americans love to call it.

While waiting for the second part of “Music For Cars”, awarded with full marks. We'll see if this great album has legs strong enough to permanently change the rules of the game.

Best track: “How To Draw / Petrichor”