ADVERTISEMENT

It's strange to sit with the notion that I've "grown up" with The 1975; I was in high school already when I found them. But listening to "Robbers," that's exactly how it feels. It's a tale of two lovers, partners in crime who begin diverging in their ideologies as a heist gets out of hand. The man pleads for his enraged partner to reconsider her actions, all the while promising to remain loyal. Eventually they presumably murder a ton of cops and bystanders, expressed in a guttural wail from a 23-year-old Matty: "And I'll shoot him if it's what you ask / But if you'd just take off your mask / You'd find out everything's gone wrong / Now everybody's dead." Since their first album, Healy has penned introspections brooding on narcissism and its effect on his relationships, explored the weight of spiritual malaise as an atheist seeking God, and confronted the complexities of a world flirting with the apocalypse. So the 1975 has followed me through some of the most pivotal moments of my life, and each release mirrored a personal thematic evolution of my own ideologies. Maybe it's a reflection of these increasingly demented times; I'm certainly not alone in this relationship to them. But I hold on to this distant little work of fiction in The 1975's repertoire. We're grown up now, but it's still fun to escape and play "Robbers" for a little. — Nalae White