Was the wait for Notes on a Conditional Form worth it?
The months of delays and false signs of hope dating back all the way to late 2018 have been hyping up The 1975’s fourth studio album. And in that span, a whopping seven singles have been released to appease the impatient fans since August when the Nine Inch Nails-inspired “People” hit the airwaves.
That’s just the tip of the melting iceberg (which would certainly be protested by Greta Thunberg who is featured on the eponymous opening track). Since that time, Matty Healy and his mates have teased us with ’90s infused tracks like “Me & You Together Song,” more experimental beats are hit by “Frail State of Mind,” and the sax solo of “If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)” which is arguably one of the top five songs of the group.
With 22 tracks, the seven songs that were teased for the last nine months certainly showed most of the album’s peaks. Though that’s not to say it ever dips far in quality.
The band’s previous record A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships had a modest 15 tracks in comparison and included a brief interlude via “How to Draw / Petrichor” and a monologue via “The Man Who Married a Robot.” Notes leans into the former as four tracks can be considered as more electronic sounds than songs. Who knew “How to Draw” would be the sound they adopt the most from the last album?
Though their ambience won’t be played on repeat, they certainly have their place as mood-setters like the transition “Steaming” provides moving from the aptly titled “Frail State of Mind” to the existential crisis of “The Birthday Party” which itself is another experimental track, acoustic track the group hasn’t often ventured.
Though they are working in rarified territory traversing genres ranging from house via “Shiny Collarbone” and even a pop-country vibe from “Roadkill,” there’s still a good share that returns to each of the band’s eras.
“Then Because She Goes,” “Then Because She Goes” and “The End” recall the Music for Cars EP while the “Playing on My Mind” makes for a delicious pair with I Like it When You Sleep’s “Nana.”
And that really sums up Notes. It’s all over the place like a collection of unfinished EPs that will have swarms of fans asking for more like this, that, and the other.
For all the idiosyncrasies, it still soars high with introspective tracks like “If You’re Too Shy” and the nostalgic “Guys,” two songs weary of standing in the moment. The former is threatened by moving forward while the latter cherishes the past and what it has brought to the present, something Matty Healy’s frontman persona copes with time and again, jumping from insecurity of relationships and intimacy of all kinds that feel all the more relevant in quarantine.
And some moments like in the gospel-feeling “Nothing Revealed / Everything Denied” a have truly great moments of true clarity and honesty in the face of perpetual isolation despite our connectedness. Perhaps it’s a tad too grandeurizing, but successful nonetheless.
In short, the wait was not worth it and had it been released earlier, there could be questions why it was pushed out of the studio so fast. During the extended hiatus, the track’s best genre-hopping sounds had already been heard with the exception of a couple B-side beats. Might it have been better as 10-track record with nothing but hits?
It’s got a little something for everyone, but unlikely for anyone to love the whole thing from start to finish beyond its collective ambition.
Overall Grade: 6.5 out of 10
