The 1975’s Matty Healy on riffing on LCD Soundsystem’s ‘All My Friends’ for album opener
The 1975‘s Matty Healy has spoken to NME about the band’s decision to riff on the sound of LCD Soundsystem‘s classic single ‘All My Friends’ for the opener of their new album, ‘Being Funny In A Foreign Language’.
Each opening track of The 1975’s opening albums is traditionally self-titled. This time, it bears a similar duelling piano riff and rhythm to LCD Soundsystem’s 2007 single from their second album ‘Sound Of Silver’.
Speaking to NME for last week’s Big Read cover story, Healy hailed the James Murphy-penned track as “the most reflective, celebratory, present, nostalgic” track and “the best song ever”.
“It is,” he continued. “Especially for guys exactly our age. It’s our song. It’s the cool guys’ ‘Mr Brightside’.”
Having previously paid tribute to LCD and ‘All My Friends’ by opening their first album’s single ‘Sex’ with the same lyric of ‘This is how it starts’, Healy opted to remove a line this time that knowingly nodded to the band.
“It actually had a James Murphy line in it that I took out: something like: ‘And you owe James Murphy 20 per cent of this song, your career and the whole idea of living in a city with a tinge of fear, and the fans are on‘…”
He continued: “That used to be in there but then I was like, ‘No, I’m not actually going to take you out of the world because you know what I’m doing’. That’s also me wanting to be like, ‘Hey James Murphy and wanting to get his attention’. I’ve never met him and he’s on my bucketlist.”
Check out both tracks below.
As well as revealing that the duelling piano sound was also inspired by Steve Reich and their surroundings of Real World Studios where the album was recorded, Healy went on to describe what the lyrics of the opening track mean.
The lyrics see Healy reflect on how he’s “Sorry about my 20s, I was learning the ropes”. Finding himself in a world “using young people as collateral”, he ends: “Sorry if you’re living and you’re 17.”
On the tradition of the self-titled opening track, he said: “What it will probably always be is the aesthetic or the lyrical status update. That’s what it is on this song. It sets how culture is and then it goes into how I’m feeling in it. This is the culture that I’m seeing, and now this is how it’s making me feel and what it’s making me pursue.”
He continued: “It comes from video games and the ‘SEGAAAA’ introduction where you’d turn the module on, it would check in with you and remind you of who it was. Sonically, we did that up until ‘Notes’. Now it’s just the name of the first track.”
As well as revealing the fate of the long-awaited EP of material from the band’s previous incarnation Drive Like I Do, last week’s NME Big Read cover story interview with The 1975 also saw Healy discuss cancel culture and quitting Twitter, as well as the view that The 1975 are a “post-Arctic Monkeys” band, and the heart and humour on their new record.
The band will be heading out on a UK tour in January 2023. Visit here for tickets and more information.
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Andrew Trendell
NME
