More new music from The 1975 is here!
After returning last month with their new song "Part of the Band," the group is lighting things up with their glowing new single "Happiness," which premiered Wednesday along with an accompanying video.
In addition to the new music, frontman Matty Healy chatted with Apple Music's Zane Lowe about the new song and upcoming album Being Funny in a Foreign Language, which is out Oct. 14 and, according to Healy, will be sure to resonate with the band's day one fans.
He also discussed the band's decision to work with none other than Jack Antonoff, who produced on the upcoming record. Healy also reflected on the upcoming 20th anniversary of the band's formation, as he and bandmates Adam Hann, Ross MacDonald and George Daniel formed the group (under different monikers) back while they were in high school.
“'Happiness' is like… there's literally loads of us in the room on that track. Locked eyes...Doesn’t really have much structure," says Healy of the new song. "It came through, like, jamming. And we haven't done that in like years. So we just wanted this record to be really like a captured moment and not be too constructed and even produced that much…we did it in like a day or so. And it's us having fun."
About working with Antonoff, he says: "We spent the whole of 2021 trying to figure out what this was. It wasn't as obvious as it seemed by the time we got to the beginning of this year and made the record. We tried loads of different things. It was like some kind of continuation of Notes for a little bit. And then, what happened was, beabadoobee was making a record, and Jack Antonoff was maybe going to do it. So that's when me and Jack Antonoff started talking about that. I love Jack's work, and those Lana [Del Rey] records in particular—like, some of my favorite stuff. So we were talking about that."
He continues: "We became friends talking about production and what I was doing and what he was wanting to do and what I was wanting to do. And then I kind of just thought, 'Well, this is like a really nice, new energy.' Because we are so closed—me and George, we've always been so closed. 'Why don't you come down to the studio and see what happens?' And then he did. And then ever since, we were just great, great friends. And Jesus, man, I think that guy has a reputation for being busy, but I can tell you, he's just good. He's so good. What he does is, identifies what an artist is really good at or where the truth is coming from. And it's a bit like, if you think of a great comedian, the language of sense of humor, they can sense where the humor is in the situation. Jack's like, he's like me, you know what I mean? He's like culture vulture; he's like, full of references. He knows his shit, man. He understands what artists need at any given moment. And it happened very, very naturally."
Healy also says he believes "day ones" will like the album. "On this record we were just like, we started to like solidify like who we were," he says. "Like what is The 1975, how would you do an impression of the 1975? And I think that we just want to do what we want to do."
He adds: "You can do a lot of stuff with technology or mod cons and stuff like that. But what you can't do is, have been in a band 20 years this year. When we're doing festivals next year, that's our 20th year, together, same lineup. So you can't do that unless you do that."
On top of all of that, The 1975 has also revealed plans for a North American tour.
Watch the new video and see the tour dates below.
The 1975's live schedule:
11/03 — Uncasville, CT — Mohegan Arena
11/04 — Boston, MA — MGM Music Hall at Fenway
11/07 — New York, NY — Madison Square Garden
11/09 — Camden, NJ — Freedom Mortgage Pavilion
11/10 — Washington, D.C. — The Anthem
11/12 — Atlanta, GA — State Farm Arena
11/13 — Nashville, TN — Nashville Municipal Auditorium
11/15 — Grand Prairie, TX — Texas Trust CU Theatre
11/16 — Houston, TX — 713 Music Hall
11/17 — Austin, TX — Moody Center
11/20 — Mexico City, Mexico — Corona Capital Festival
11/23 — Phoenix, AZ — Arizona Financial Theatre
11/25 — Las Vegas, NV — The Theater at Virgin Hotels
11/26 — San Diego, CA — Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre
11/28 — Los Angeles, CA — Kia Forum
11/29 — San Francisco, CA — Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
12/01 — Portland, OR — Moda Center
12/02 — Seattle, WA — WAMU Theater
12/08 — Independence, MO — Cable Dahmer Arena
12/10 — Milwaukee, WI — The Eagles Ballroom
12/12 — Toronto, Ontario — Scotiabank Arena
12/16 — Newport, KY — PromoWest Pavilion at Ovation
12/17 — Pittsburgh, PA — UPMC Events Center
