The 1975 is currently one of the most popular new bands in youth culture. Their music addresses fairly serious topics such as drug abuse, toxic relationships, American culture and its faults, and most recently, the relationship that young people have with the internet. The 1975 manages to describe these heavy topics perfectly with catchy pop-beats and thought-provoking lyricism. The British band has acknowledged their huge influence on the minds of young people and have promised to use that influence for good. With their new single, titled, “People”, it seems that The 1975 is keeping true to their promise.

Frontman and lead singer Matthew “Matty” Healy has been rather honest about their upcoming album and its themes. In an interview with Lauren O’Neil from 101WKQX, Healy stated, “There’s stuff in there that isn’t in the other records–there’s quite a lot of anger in it”. In the same interview, Healy mentions a ‘drama’ that occurred between him, and Dan Reynolds, (lead singer of Imagine Dragons) stating, “If you’re the biggest alternative band in America–radio play wise–and you are saying nothing in your music–what’s the point?” Healy stresses the point that although escapism in art and entertainment can be necessary at times, “we have to deal with reality now.”

With all of his talk about using one’s platform to spread a message, The 1975 certainly hasn’t failed to deliver. On July 24th, 2019, they released the first, “single” for their upcoming album, “Notes On A Conditional Form”. Although there is music on the track, it’s in the form of a quiet piano instrumental, with 16 year old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg delivering a speech discussing the importance of sustainable resources, or rather, how important it is that we as a society take the threat of climate change seriously.

Along with the environmentally-aware music coming out, Matty Healy has also mentioned the new “Eco-Friendly” merchandise coming along with the album. In a video posted to Instagram by Healy, showing off the band’s new shirt designs, Healy’s caption states, “We are not making new shirts for now. Unsustainable.” He then goes into detail about how they have plans to bring a t-shirt printer to every show, so that fans can bring any old shirt they have to print the new album’s design onto. This is just one of the many ideas they have for more environmentally conscious band merchandise.

The initial reactions to the new single, “People”, have been…mixed, if anything. A fellow team member here at The Nation Wired, Salinas Dinh, told us, “’People’ isn’t what I expected, but the song brought me back to my emo eighth grade days.” Many others, especially twitter users, wholeheartedly agreed with that statement.

And while most users enjoyed the more punk/screamo sound that the song has, other were…less than pleased.

The 1975 have not yet put out an official release date for the whole album, but be sure to check out the new single, which came out on August 22nd. BBC’s Radio One will also be livestreaming the band’s set at Reading and Leeds festival on Friday. My hope is that The 1975’s new album inspires other pop artists to speak out on serious issues, and use their platforms as well for important matters such as climate change and using sustainable resources.