The 1975 are just?a lot.?They make overwhelming albums about being emotionally and technologically overwhelmed. More than anything they’ve released to date,?A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships?is prone to maniacal ambition as well as crippling self-doubt and anxiety, obsessed with the granular details of social media etiquette while contemplating the benefits of going off the grid for a while, if not forever. This?is?a brief inquiry—58 minutes is not a lot to ask when you consider the scope of it all—but “I don’t know” serves as a mission statement rather than a copout to analytic paralysis. Healy probes everything about making music and consuming music in 2018 without resorting to cynicism or nihilism.

The 1975就是這樣能告訴你很多事的樂(lè)隊(duì)。他們制作了這張勢(shì)不可擋的專輯，無(wú)論是在情感上還是技術(shù)上都能壓倒一片。比起他們之前所發(fā)行的專輯，《A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships》更傾向去展示一種瘋狂的野心，嚴(yán)重的自我懷疑與焦慮，還有沉迷于社交媒體禮儀的細(xì)微細(xì)節(jié)，同時(shí)也在沉思遠(yuǎn)離社交媒體一段時(shí)間（如果不是永遠(yuǎn)）的好處。如果你考慮到這張專輯的時(shí)長(zhǎng)， 58分鐘的專輯并不是很長(zhǎng)——但是“我不知道”是它的宗旨而不是逃避分析的無(wú)力。Healy在2018年探索了音樂(lè)制作和音樂(lè)消費(fèi)的一切，沒(méi)有采用任何的冷言冷語(yǔ)或是虛無(wú)主義。

Yes, they’re bored by “rock music” imagery, stifled by its usage as a genre signifier, and still moved by it as a form of emotional communication. “I’m Jim Morrison. Am I Jim Morrison? I’m sorry that I’m Jim Morrison. I’m [expletive] Jim Morrison!” Healy?joked?in a recent interview; the 1975 pay direct homage to Ian Curtis and Thom Yorke, respectively a guy who wanted to be Jim Morrison and a guy?who said it?but definitely didn’t mean it.?Healy has his issues with?why?the solo singer-songwriter is stereotyped as a gold standard for truth-telling. But his band knows they’re not above feeling crushed by a Damien Rice or Dashboard Confessional or Julien Baker song, and so here we have bedside acoustic weepers like “Be My Mistake” and “Surrounded by Heads and Bodies.” (What better way to express late night regret than while someone’s sleeping right next to you?) They brought in composer David Campbell to arrange strings for the closing imperial march “I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes),” and it’s telling Healy specifically namedropped Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris” as an inspiration—though still subject to critical disdain as corporate alt-rock, the music from that era frequently confronted darkness within rudimentary electronic beats, glistening, gilded guitars, and karaoke-friendly hooks.

是的，他們厭倦了 “搖滾音樂(lè)”的意像，被它當(dāng)作流派符號(hào)的用法所壓抑，可在它作為情感交流的形式時(shí)，人們?nèi)员凰钌罡袆?dòng)著。“我是Jim Morrison。我是Jim Morrison嗎？我很抱歉我是Jim Morrison。”Healy在最近一個(gè)采訪中開(kāi)玩笑說(shuō)到。The 1975直接致敬了Ian Curtis和Thom Yorke，他們一個(gè)想成為Jim Marrison，另一個(gè)說(shuō)過(guò)這句話卻不是發(fā)自內(nèi)心。Healy也有他自己的問(wèn)題——為什么唱作歌手要被打上真相訴說(shuō)者的標(biāo)簽?zāi)?。但是他的?lè)隊(duì)知道他們并不會(huì)被Damien Rice，Dashboard Confessional或是Julien Baker的歌給碾壓，所以我們能夠聽(tīng)到像“Be My Mistake”“Surrounded by Heads and Bodies”（比起有人睡在你身旁，還有什么更好的辦法來(lái)訴說(shuō)深夜悔恨呢？）這樣不插電的枕邊傷感歌曲。他們請(qǐng)作曲家David Campbell為“I Always Wanna Die（Sometimes）”的結(jié)尾創(chuàng)作了一段弦樂(lè)，這也是在告訴我們Healy尤其贊賞Goo Goo Dolls的單曲“Iris”，并把它當(dāng)做了一種創(chuàng)作靈感——盡管這首歌作為一首另類搖滾的作品仍然受到蔑視性的批評(píng)，那個(gè)年代的音樂(lè)一直要直面黑暗，充斥著基本電子節(jié)拍，閃閃發(fā)光、鍍金的吉他，還有卡拉OK友好型的音符符尾。

Though?A Brief?Inquiry?is just as dizzying and disorienting as 2016’s heroically omnivorous?i love it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it,?the 1975 take themselves a little more seriously now. Two years ago, they blanched at being called a boy band while still engaging in the kind of symbiotic fan relationship endemic to that form:?i love it?was riddled with visual and lyrical Easter eggs, thumbing its nose at criticism and rewarding those who saw past it. Nothing here is quite as fearlessly saucy as that album’s lead single “Love Me” or audacious as its ambient midsection, and even the clunkiest lyrics aren’t a pile-up of?car-krashian panache-in’. Though still endearingly schticky at points—Healy loves leaning on a gospel choir to hit the choruses—they stick the landing far more often. The band’s ambition and appetite is a matter of fact now,?and the wow factor of “the 1975 made a Trippie Redd track” or “they think they’re George Michael” soon gives way to?of course they did.?“TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME” could’ve been the frothiest trop-house deconstruction of IG infidelity on?Scorpion?and “It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You)” could conceivably be covered as country, hair metal, or New Wave.

即使《A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships》這張專輯像2016年那張大膽涵蓋一切的專輯《i love it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it》一樣，是如此讓人眼花繚亂、迷失方向，The 1975現(xiàn)在變得稍微嚴(yán)肅了一些。2年前，他們?cè)谂?jīng)營(yíng)那種與粉絲共生的關(guān)系之時(shí)也害怕被稱作是一個(gè)由小男孩組成的樂(lè)隊(duì)：?jiǎn)吻癷 love it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it”就像一個(gè)滿布視覺(jué)和抒情的復(fù)活節(jié)彩蛋，對(duì)批評(píng)不屑一顧，而卻獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)那些能夠看穿它的人。沒(méi)有什么能比這張專輯的主打歌“Love me”更毫無(wú)顧忌的無(wú)理放肆了，甚至連里面最粗陋的歌詞也是屈指可數(shù)的“car-krashian panache-in（原歌詞是Karcrashian panache 不過(guò)唱出來(lái)和這個(gè)發(fā)音是一樣的）”。盡管有時(shí)這首歌非常討人喜歡，因?yàn)镠ealy喜歡用福音唱詩(shī)班來(lái)做和聲，但是唱詩(shī)班經(jīng)常遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)地站在麥克風(fēng)后。這支樂(lè)隊(duì)的雄心壯志已成為事實(shí)，“The 1975制作了一個(gè)Trippie Redd音軌”，“他們覺(jué)得自己是George Michael”等本是讓人驚嘆之詞也變成了“他們當(dāng)然可以做到了”。“TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME”本可能是最不起眼的trop-house（一種電子舞曲的類型），講述了IG對(duì)Scorpion的不忠；“It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You)”則可以被理解其組成有鄉(xiāng)村音樂(lè)、流行金屬、或是新浪潮音樂(lè)等。

Still, their artistic growth hasn’t come at the expense of the seediness that makes the 1975 feel like an illicit pleasure even when Healy is?trying?to be the better man. Is he cerebral because he laces his lyrics with literary references, or is he basic because they happen to be?Infinite Jest?and?Gone Girl,?two tomes which are part of the pop canon in their own ways? Is he vapid because he quotes literally the first line of each, or is it a genius metacommentary on, say, the way people namedrop books they’ll never finish? Healy claims the video for “Sincerity Is Scary” is “wholesome as a bowl of soup” and perhaps it’ll distract from the twisted pre-chorus: “I’m sure that you’re not just another girl / I’m sure that you’re gonna say that I was sexist / I feel like you’re running out of all the things I liked you for.” This is the song that begs the listener to open themselves up to the possibilities of true IRL connection and I know that because “Sincerity Is Scary” received a thorough Artist Verified Genius commentary from Healy himself.

盡管如此，他們的藝術(shù)成長(zhǎng)并不會(huì)以頹廢為代價(jià)，這種頹廢讓The 1975感受到了非法的快感，也讓Healy努力成為一個(gè)更好的人。他的智慧是因?yàn)樗诟柙~中加入了文學(xué)元素，還是說(shuō)他恰巧參考了書(shū)籍《無(wú)窮無(wú)盡的笑話》和《消失的女孩》呢？這兩本書(shū)以它們自己的方式成為流行經(jīng)典的一部分。他之所以索然無(wú)味，是因?yàn)樗鹱种鹁涞匾昧嗣勘緯?shū)的第一行，還是說(shuō)這是一個(gè)天才的衍生評(píng)語(yǔ)，這就好比人們經(jīng)常會(huì)給自己從來(lái)看不完的書(shū)起名字這樣？Healy說(shuō)“Sincerity Is Scary”的mv是“像一碗湯一樣健康”，也許它會(huì)從扭曲的副歌前部分中分離出來(lái)：“I’m sure that you’re not just another girl （我很確信你不僅僅是一個(gè)普通的女孩）/ I’m sure that you’re gonna say that I was sexist（我很確定你會(huì)指責(zé)我說(shuō)我又性別歧視了） / I feel like you’re running out of all the things I liked you for（我感覺(jué)你正毀掉你身上我所喜愛(ài)的一切）.”這首歌想讓聽(tīng)眾們?cè)诂F(xiàn)實(shí)生活中盡可能地打開(kāi)心扉，直面自己，我知道因?yàn)樵凇癝incerity Is Scary”里我們能得到Healy作為一個(gè)被證實(shí)的完全天才藝術(shù)家的評(píng)論。

“Why would you believe you could control how you’re perceived / When at your best you’re intermediately versed in your own feelings?” he asks later on that song, maybe the only inquiry that needs to be made into online relationships. How often does your carefully curated persona misalign with your actual personality? How much suffering could you avoid if you gave up the game entirety? And why the hell should you believe Matt Healy when he offers the same alternatives to meaningless sex and screen time that you ignored from your parents: Honesty is the best policy, dare to be great, give yourself a try. It holds weight because the 1975 are living proof, even if?he doesn’t always take his own advice. Try and find the earliest video of “sex,” with their severe haircuts, black-and-white branding, and Johnny Cash posters. This was a group of young men trying so damn hard to be perceived as austere and cool, while critics claimed to see right through them. Six years later, the critics are on their side, and it doesn’t even really matter. The 1975 are still whoever the hell they want, and completely themselves.

“Why would you believe you could control how you’re perceived （你為何會(huì)相信你能控制別人對(duì)你的看法）/ When at your best you’re intermediately versed in your own feelings?（你竭盡全力時(shí)也只能勉強(qiáng)控制你的情感）”他后來(lái)在那首歌中質(zhì)問(wèn)道，也許只有在對(duì)網(wǎng)絡(luò)關(guān)系進(jìn)行詢問(wèn)之后才能得到答案吧。你精心策劃的人物形象與你在現(xiàn)實(shí)的反差有多少次不一樣？還有，當(dāng)Matty Healy為你提供了與無(wú)意義的性行為相同的替代品和你忽視父母所在手機(jī)上花的時(shí)間時(shí)，你為什么要相信他呢？誠(chéng)然，最好的解決辦法就是，要有膽量變得更好，給自己一個(gè)嘗試的機(jī)會(huì)。這首歌之所以很有分量是因?yàn)門(mén)he 1975提供了活生生的證據(jù)，即使他總不聽(tīng)取他自己的建議。去找到最早的“sex”的mv，你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)里面有著演員們樸實(shí)的發(fā)型，有著黑白的商標(biāo)，還有Johnny Cash的海報(bào)。這群年輕人拼命努力想讓別人覺(jué)得他們很正經(jīng)、冷酷，而批評(píng)者卻早已看穿了他們。6年后，那群批評(píng)者們轉(zhuǎn)而支持他們，這早已沒(méi)有那么重要了。The 1975仍然是他們想要成為的那個(gè)人，那就是他們自己。