'We're doing things differently': Inside The 1975's two-album campaign

Jamie Oborne has told Music Week that The 1975 stand to benefit from a “paradigm shift” in music consumption, as they prepare to release two new albums in quick succession.

Speaking in the new issue of Music Week, out now, Oborne – who manages the band through his All On Red Company and runs their label, Dirty Hit – explained the decision to release two albums.

“We’re doing things a little bit differently in this campaign,” Oborne said. “Very early on, Matthew [Healy, frontman] noted that the promotional window on music is shorter than ever, and the time that people consume it is infinite.

“He felt very strongly that, if we have a tour cycle that’s going to last 18 months to two years, we have to release two records in the time that we would have previously have released one.”

Dirty Hit will release A Brief Enquiry Into Online Relationships in Q4, and Notes On A Conditional Form in Spring 2019, with the backing of its joint venture with Polydor.

Released in 2013, The 1975’s eponymous debut (563,668 sales, according to the Official Charts Company) was followed by 2016’s I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It (312,645 sales). Both albums hit No.1.

We’re doing things a little bit differently in this campaign Jamie Oborne

Promising a modern campaign, Oborne believes that streaming could propel the upcoming releases to greater heights.

“Streaming has evolved into more of a mass mode of consumption,” he said. “The 1975’s cultural identity goes hand in glove with this paradigm shift in how people consume.”

Addressing the themes of the album, the manager and label boss said that, “Matthew has lived more in his short time on earth than many people three times his age. He has an awful lot of experience to write about. The records are really about life, like all the best albums are.”

Oborne added that The 1975 will release one song each month in the run-up to the first of the new LPs, and confirmed they would make their live return in January. “It will be global and will start in the UK,” he said.

Released last month, The 1975’s comeback single, Give Yourself A Try, has sold 47,600 copies to date, peaking at No.22.

To read the full story, including insight from Polydor co-president Tom March, pick up the new edition of Music Week, out now.

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