The 1975‘s manager Jamie Oborne has said that the band are “reaching the finish line” on their new album ‘Notes On A Conditional Form‘ – and that it’s sounding “seminal” and “fucking bonkers”.

Fans have been eagerly awaiting news on the band’s follow-up to 2018’s acclaimed ‘A Brief Enquiry Into Online Relationships‘, which will be the final chapter of an ‘era’ that they’re referring to as ‘Music For Cars’. The album had a scheduled release date of February 21, with the band rescheduling European tour dates to complete work on the record before pushing the impact date back to April 24.

Now, The 1975’s manager and Dirty Hit label boss Jamie Oborne has assured NME that ‘Notes…’ is “nearly finished”.


“We’re just in the final stages of it at the moment,” Oborne told NME. “I lose track of time a little bit. It’s really consumed our lives. It’s been really difficult to make these two albums and allow them to move creatively forward in the way that Matthew [Healy, frontman] and George [Daniel, drummer] demand whilst promoting them and touring.”

He continued: “It’s only now that we’re coming to the end of the process of making the two records that I realise how much of a relief it is to be reaching the finish line. It’s been the most amazing but intense two years of my life. I don’t know how we’ve managed to do it. It’s been such a team effort to get this far and even be able to function as humans.”

While the process of making two consecutive records so intensely has taken a toll, Oborne said that he believed that the process of completing the albums harkened back to the way that bands used to work in the ’60s and ’70s.

“When we finished ‘A Brief Enquiry’, George was very visibly mentally exhausted,” said Oborne. “I asked him if he felt any sort of relief, and he said, ‘No, because we haven’t finished’. They literally started working on ‘Notes On A Conditional Form’ immediately.

“Anyone can make a load of tracks and split them into two albums, but The 1975 have actually made two separate albums in a two year period. It’s crazy. It’s like what it must have been like for The Stones, The Beatles or Bowie – at their peak and making these seminal pieces of work.”


Oborne added: “I don’t say that with any hyperbole. ‘A Brief Enquiry’ was one of the albums of the decade. That’s me as a music fan saying, ‘I don’t know how they did that’. They’ve done it again. The next record is fucking bonkers. Hardly any artists ever do shit like that any more.”

And with Healy saying that the sound of the album draws on everything from emo, post-hardcore, UK garage, electronica and beyond, Oborne concluded that ‘Notes’ was shaping up to be “progressive while also their most 1975-sounding record”.

“They just keep pushing the boundaries in all directions,” Oborne told NME. “The pop bits are poppier, the heavy bits are heavier, the soundscapes are more soaring. Ask me in a couple of weeks when it’s all formatted, in the correct order and everything’s done. At the moment it’s like everything. It’s everything you expect and loads of things that you don’t. It’s crazy, man.

“It’s their best record. I say that with surprise because they just keep getting better. It’s a beautiful thing.”

Check back at NME soon for more of our interview with Oborne.

Next month sees The 1975 head out on a UK and Ireland arena joined by Dirty Hit labelmate Baebadoobee.