The 1975 enter a digital meme realm in "The Birthday Party" video
The 1975 just shared their new song and video for “The Birthday Party” and you better prepare for a wild ride. The song on its own is very the 1975-ish. But the video unleashes a virtual world populated with memes of internet subcultures.
“The Birthday Party” is the fifth track the 1975 have shared from their forthcoming album Notes On A Conditional Form.
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Previously, the 1975 have shared the singles “People,” “Frail State Of Mind,” “Me & You Together Song” and “The 1975” which are all set to appear on the record.
Just last week, the English pop-rockers seemed to be behind a new website known as mindshower.ai. The website is relatively bare except for some odd quotes and two buttons for press and bookings.
There was a website known as mindshower.ai. The website was very simple except for a couple of buttons and weird affirmations. They included “Affirmations-Everyday-Life,” “I Pay Attention And At Heart!” and “I Make Small Voice Within.” The website also had a countdown that will end up Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 6 p.m. GMT/1 p.m. EST.
In addition, vocalist Matty Healy posted a strange image with the caption “MIND SHOWER.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8lmJa-Bk2v/?utm_source=ig_embed
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Healy also posted a picture of what could be a new music video for a single from the upcoming album titled “The Birthday Party.” Healy has discussed in the past that the song would appear on Notes On A Conditional Form.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8or8lOh69_/?utm_source=ig_embed
Well, the countdown ended and the 1975 dropped a brand new song and video titled “The Birthday Party.”
The video is captivating to say the least. We see a virtual Healy entering the Mindshower digital detox center. He turns in his phone. He is transported to another world. The world is populated with very old memes. From there, we’re treated to a dystopian narrative about narcissism, isolation and the division created by social media.
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The 1975 once again worked with director Ben Ditto and co-director / lead artist Jon Emmony, who worked together on the lead single and video “People.”
“It was truly inspiring to work with The 1975 on this project, combining digital craft with true emotion and a subversive and multilayered narrative,” Ditto says. “Matty and I have a shared fascination with the underbelly of Internet culture and how that impacts modern life, and we looked to address this from several directions and created an engaging and beautiful piece of filmmaking to contain these messages and their performance in a revolutionary way.”
Healy corroborated his love for working with Ditto and “The Birthday Party” in a recent interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music.
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“Oh, dude it’s one of the things I’m most proud of. I mean it’s taken us like, it’s not taken us a year. Like but when we started making it like a year ago, it was one of the first things for it,” Healy says. “It’s me and my friend Ben who’s like become one of my closest collaborators. He made “People” with me.”
“I couldn’t read out the credits- … of the incredibly talented people who have helped work on this video. When I put it out, I will do. It’s a, it’s a visual kind of feast and I think it’s very funny. Yeah, we’re really excited about it. It’s kind of a first time that the videos and the music have always been very, very much tied together and come at the same time. But this is the first time that like the video and the song’s kind of almost at the same thing, you know.”
Watch the video for “The Birthday Party” below.
The 1975 “The Birthday Party” lyrics
Hello, there’s a place I’ve been going
There’s a place I’ve been going
Now I’m clean, it would seem
Let’s go somewhere I’ll be seen
As sad as it seems
I seen Greg and he was like
“I seen your friends at the birthday party
They were kinda fucked up before it even started
They were gonna go to the Pinegrove show
They didn’t know about all the weird stuff
So they just left it” (So they just left it)
I was wasted (I was wasted)
And cold, minding my business
Then I seen the girls and they were all like
“Do you wanna come and get fucked up?”
Listen, I got myself a missus, so there can’t be any kissing
“No, don’t be a fridge, you better wise up, kid
It’s all Adderall now, it doesn’t make you wanna do it”
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“This ain’t going well”, I thought that I was stuck in Hell
In a boring conversation with a girl called Mel
About her friend in Cincinnati called Matty as well
You pulled away when I went in for the kiss
No, it wasn’t a diss
You put the tap on to cover up the sound of your piss
After four years, don’t you think I’m over all this?
“That’s rich from a man who can’t shit in a hotel room
He’s gotta share for a bit”
You make a little hobby out of going to the lobby
To get things that they don’t have
Does it go through ya when I’m talking to ya?
You know that I could sue ya if we’re married
And you fuck up again
Impress myself with stealth and bad health
And my wealth and progressive causes
Drink your kombucha and buy an Ed Ruscha
Surely, it’s a print ’cause I’m not made of it
Look, the fucking state of it
I came pretty late to it
We can still be mates ’cause it’s only a picture
All your friends in one place
Oh, we’re a scene, whatever that means
I depend on my friends to stay clean
As sad as it seems
As sad as it seems
As sad as it seems
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The worlds created in “The Birthday Party” will also become an immersive experience for the 1975’s upcoming live shows.
During the Zane Lowe interview, Healy shared a number of important tidbits about his plans for the future and a fun fact about his past.
For one, Matty talks about needing to progress past the Music For Cars era into the future. He’s not quite sure how yet but he does talk about him and George Daniel creating solo albums.
“Yeah, I think that it’s a constantly evolving thing. I think that there’s an obvious end to an era with Music for Cars, just because like we’ve come to the end of a decade, Healy states. “Like culture is moving. Like the 1975 has to be a slightly different thing in like, I don’t know what, like two years, you know. I mean it’s, it just will naturally be.”
“So me figuring out what that is, there’s lots of stuff that we’re gonna do. The 1975 doesn’t really operate without each other. So I mean I’m not like giving people excuses. Like one thing that I know that we’re gonna do is that I’m doing a Matty record and George is doing a George record. And we’re gonna produce each other’s records. So that’s gonna happen.”
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Healy also told a story about how he played with Green Day when he was just a kid.
“Oh mate, Billie Joe Armstrong. I was in the back with him for 10 minutes,” Healy says. “I remember that. With Green Day, I played with Green Day once. So I was like 13 and they did that thing where they get kids up on stage. And I was at the front and then I got up and played bass with them. That was at my first thing. And then I met them years later and told them the whole story and they, they weren’t remotely interested. So yeah, yeah.”
Notes On A Conditional Form releases April 24 and can be preordered here. The tour kicks off on April 27 and runs through mid-June. Tickets are available here. Check out a full list of dates below.
Dates:
04/27 – Houston, TX @ The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
04/29 – Austin, TX @ Germania Insurance Amphitheater (formerly Austin360)
05/02 – Dallas, TX @ Dos Equis Pavilion
05/03 – El Paso, TX @ Don Haskins Center
05/05 – Phoenix, AZ @ Gila River Arena
05/07 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum +
05/08 – Irvine, CA @ FivePoint Amphitheatre +
05/11 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre
05/13 – Omaha, NE @ Baxter Arena
05/14 – St. Louis, MO @ Enterprise Center
05/16 – St. Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center
05/18 – Milwaukee, WI @ Fiserv Forum
05/19 – Columbus, OH @ Schottenstein Center
05/21 – Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage
05/23 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem
05/26 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
05/29 – Hanover, MD @ The Hall at Live! Casino and Hotel
06/02 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Petersen Events Center
06/03 – Cleveland, OH @ Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
06/05 – Virginia Beach, VA @ Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater
06/06 – Charlotte, NC @ Spectrum Center
06/08 – Jacksonville, FL @ Daily’s Place
06/09 – Miami, FL @ Bayfront Park Amphitheater
06/11 – Atlanta, GA @Infinite Energy Center *
06/12 – Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival * +
Phoebe Bridgers will be direct support on all dates except *
Beabadoobee will be support on all dates except +
What do you think of the 1975’s new video for “The Birthday Party?” Sound off in the comments below!
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