Since their debut album in 2013, The 1975 have been on my radar. In the years since my affection for them has grown and I currently consider them to be one of my top three favorite artists of all time. Their growth as a band and continuously expanding discography keep me engaged in their every musical move. The new album they are dropping on October 14th is no exception this.

Before this new release, I thought it appropriate to take a trip down memory lane. Below I rank my top twenty favorite songs the band has released on their four previous studio albums. Join me as I muse, listen, and savor the unique stylings of Matty Healy and The 1975.

20. Love Me

Album: I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it.

This song is an undeniable bop. It begs your body to move and groove each time it plays with little contention. This debit single dropped a good four months before the band’s sophomore album and kept fans satiated as they awaited the release.

This song is a great representation of just how important I like it when you sleep was to my relationship with The 1975. I definitely enjoyed their self-titled debut, but it wasn’t until this album came out that I realized just how much I love this band. This record took me from being a casual listener who enjoyed their music, to being a full-blown fan. It led to me revisiting their first album and spending time with so many of it’s songs. “Love Me” truly kicked this off.

I remember the video dropping vividly. It was then that I realized this bad was a thousand times cooler than I ever could’ve imagined they would be. If you haven’t watched it, I highly recommend it. There is a Harry Styles cameo that I’m sure will exceed your expectations.

19. Sincerity Is Scary

Album: A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships

Another single, this time off the bands much anticipated third album. Each of the singles for this album were a little different. Where “Give Yourself a Try” was pop infused, “Love It If We Made It” was rock, and “TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME” was a dancehall jam, “Sincerity” delivers a jazzy vibe. As if we didn’t already know the band was capable of serious range, this crop of singles really confirmed it.

This song is simple, something The 1975 is often not, but it is masterfully executed. The title itself offers the song’s basic message: being sincere and vulnerable can be a truly terrifying thing. It’s that simple, yet it perfectly captures this fear that is infused in our society. This is something the band does so well: they take a problem, feeling, or fear and turn it into a pop song that sounds blissfully carefree.

The question of allowing yourself to let your guard down and truly be sincere has never sounded this good.

18. The Ballad of Me and My Brain

Album: I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it.

“Well I think I’ve gone mad / isn’t that so sad?” Few opening lyrics have ever hooked me in like that question does.

Matty Healy has shown us time and time again that he has a knack for capturing unique and specific mental states in his music – whether that be depression, addiction, or anxiety. This song in particular has resonated with me since it first played in my ears for that very reason. I don’t know if I knew anyone else had ever felt this way and, though I still don’t exactly know what to call it, but I know that I am not alone in feeling this. Matty identified something with this oft-overlooked song that made me feel seen.

The idea of trying to locate your brain amongst the ever-moving world around him really hit home. The world never stops turning, never stops moving, no matter how desperately you want it to.

17. It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You)

Album: A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships

Here we have another song that dives into the complexity of Matty’s life and mind. This time, the band cleverly disguises the heavy topic of heroin addiction as a joyful pop song.

My dad often jokes that I love sad music. He isn’t wrong in this jab, as I often do recommend very emotional music to him. However, he isn’t seeing the whole picture. My favorite kind of music is music that makes you feel. It just so happens that I find music that makes me feel sad to often be the most effective.

This is part of the reason why I hold The 1975 so dear. They are intentional musicians who, time and time again, take a feeling and capture in song. What makes them one of my favorite bands is that the manner through which they express said emotion is often unconventional or unexpected. “It’s Not Living” is perhaps the best example of this. The dissonance between the lyrical content and musical stylings does a lot of things effectively as they work to deliver this message. Perhaps the most important of all of the effects this song has on it’s listener once they fully understand the message is it’s ability to portray the façade of joy and escape offered through drugs.

The band similarly explored the topic of addiction in their song “UGH” which features similar dance-worthy beats, but instead explores Healy’s relationship with cocaine. Both songs are wonderful, but the marriage of a melancholy message and intoxicating beat in “It’s Not Living” has always charmed me more.

16. She Way Out

Album: The 1975

My first selection from the band’s self-titled debut album is “She Way Out.” There isn’t much depth to this pick besides the fact that I turn the volume up every time this song comes on. I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing, but I do know that – just like the girl in the song – I want to be way out.

15. Loving Someone

Album: I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it.

This song had me at hello. I had never heard anything quite like it before and haven’t since. It stands in a league of it’s own. It is all over the place, equal parts not knowing what it is and knowing exactly what it is. For me this song is a preview of what we get from The 1975 after I like it when you sleep. It is almost the beginning of their next chapter tucked away neatly in the middle of their second album.

14. Tonight (I Wish I Was Your Boy)

Album: Notes on a Conditional Form

While it might not be my favorite off the album, this is certainly the song I listen to most off of Notes on a Conditional Form. It’s naïve, romantic, self-deprecating, and charming – an embrace of everything that pop music promises to be. Not only does it deliver in it’s listenability, but it is a standout on an album that is all over the place to begin with.

13. So Far (It’s Alright)

Album: The 1975

This is a song that I didn’t grasp onto during my first few visits to this album. It grew on me in time and truthfully means more to me now than most.

The 1975 isn’t the most sunny, positive band of all time. It’s part of the reason I like them. I don’t need flat, emotionless, fake joy spat in my face through song. I enjoy their genuine songwriting and sometime hard to face realities. This song manages to be one of their most optimistic without losing their genuine tone. The message is simple, but begs to be repeated: life is hard and tumultuous, but we have the ability to smile through it and be okay. If we live our lives to the fullest and make the most of this singular existence that we are gifted, it will all be alright.

12. This Must Be My Dream

Album: I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it.

Similar to “So Far (It’s Alright)” this is a song that grew on me over time. With each run through of I like it when you sleep I found myself being drawn back to this track. There are a lot of reasons why this song is one of my favorites. For one it is built like a very traditional pop song with a instrumental solo and everything. It also harps on love and the heartbreak that so often accompanies it. But mostly I cling to it because it is all about the feeling you get when you dream of your life with someone and all that it could be, only to face the harsh reality that this is not how things will play out in real life.

It’s harsh, but it’s beautifully said.

11. TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME

Album: A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships

This song is just plain groovy. I can’t listen to it without swaying or bopping my head to the music. It’s an infectious tune that, in a similar way to so many of their songs, can distract from what the band is actually singing about.

The subject of this song, in fact, is decidedly un-groovy. Just like the chorus details, this dancehall jam is about cheating in the digital age. They promised us an inquiry into online relationships and delivered with this tale of a guy who justifies his cheating of unknown quantity by pointing out that his girlfriend also texts someone else.

Essentially, this song makes cheating sound so good that you sort of can’t blame people for betraying their loved one’s trust to go astray. (Just to be clear: I don’t condone cheating, but I certainly condone this song).

10. Somebody Else

Album: I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it.

This is undoubtedly the band’s most successful song and it’s not hard to see why.

For one, it is one of their most relatable songs. You don’t need to go traipsing across the internet doing deep dives to understand what they are talking about in this one. It’s simple: even though I don’t want you anymore, I don’t want anyone else to have you either. It’s really not a cute look, but is a really real feeling. The band continuously proves that they are not afraid to acknowledge and openly sing about those awkward, ugly, and shameful feelings. The reception of this song alone is illustration enough of how universal this thought process is, no matter how ugly.

It took me a long time to come around to this song. And the reasoning is no more complex than the fact that I avoided it for song long because of it’s popularity. Anyone who is a fan of a band who has only a few popular songs knows what I am talking about. “That song is so mainstream, it’s not even their best song on the album.” Unfortunately for me, I have had to eat my words as there is only one other song off of I like it when you sleep on this list.

9. If I Believe You

Album: I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it.

This song is gorgeous and heartbreaking and brilliantly written. The first few times I experienced it, I enjoyed it for the auditory sensation of it all. But the longer I lived with it and listened to the words, the more I was touched by it.

The degree to which Matty Healy understands the purpose of religion in our world, though he does not actively participate in it, is astounding. I don’t even know if I fully understood the importance of my own faith until I truly listened to this song. But it’s message does – in my eyes at least – extend beyond that of religion. It captures the feeling of wishing so badly that you wanted something, but ultimately knowing that you don’t actually want it. Whether it’s a person, a way of life, a decision, a career, it’s the same concept. There are so many things in my life I have wanted for myself, but never truly desired or believed in. It’s an internal struggle that is so beautifully illustrated in this powerhouse of a song.

8. Love It If We Made It

Album: A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships

I want to take a moment before I dive into this song to say that this list is my favorite songs by The 1975, not the best songs by The 1975. This distinction is important as I believe this song would be ranked number one on the latter list.

Not only do I think this is their best quality song, I believe it to be their most important. You can’t ignore the message of this song, nor can you ignore the anger that comes pouring out of it. As a fan of the band I was so proud when this song came out. So many of the people and things I care about don’t acknowledge all the wrong that is going on in the world. Here, The 1975 doesn’t just acknowledge it, they shout it loud enough for the people in the back covering their ears to hear it.

Despite it’s obvious prowess in not just composition, but writing, this isn’t the easiest song to listen to. For all the reasons I detail above, this song is a reminder of so much that is wrong with our world right now. And no matter how important that is, it isn’t always the reason I turn to music. Sometimes I want to feel happy or sad instead of angry and despondent.

P.S. Even though it is hard to watch, this song might have my all time favorite music video.

7. I Couldn’t Be More In Love

Album: A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships

I don’t know how eloquently I can explain my attachment to this song. Though it is a very canned thing to say, I can’t deny that it is how I feel: this song is beautiful.

It captures the overwhelmingly raw emotion that results from caring so much for something that is ultimately for naught. The feelings don’t always go away and when the moment has passed, what are we supposed to do with them? I don’t have an answer and neither does Matty really, but I could listen to him croon about this phenomena all day long.

6. Guys

Album: Notes on a Conditional Form

We are really getting down to it now. Though there are not many songs from Notes that appear on this list, the ones that are featured here mean a lot to me. Case in point: Guys.

I have never dated anyone thus far in my life. That doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy love songs and ~feel things~ when I listen to them, because I certainly do. Especially love songs like “Guys.” This song hits different for me because it is about a love I have very often experienced, a love that means so much to me: the love you have for your friends.

My friendships are the most beautiful, full relationships I have ever experienced. They have endured through happy and sad, they are there through the dull, and they stay fresh even during periods of physical distance. My friends are second only to my immediate family in my heart. The love I have for them is unlike anything else. It isn’t the same way I love my parents or my brother or my dog. And it’s not like – I can only assume – the way you love someone romantically. It’s a type of love that deserves more songs like this.

Before I get too mushy and emotional – if I haven’t yet crossed the line, that is – I just want to sum up my feelings for this song and my friendships by citing my favorite lyric Matty sings during the four minutes and 29 seconds of this song: “Right then I realized / You’re the love of my life.”

5. I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)

Album: A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships

If you have ever felt at your lowest that you want to die, this song is a revelation. It so simply captures the incredibly intense feelings you get at your lowest and at the same time balances it out by adding one simple word: sometimes.

When you feel like thi,s the emotion is so overwhelming that you can’t remember not feeling this way. Even worse, you can’t imagine this feeling ever going away. For most of us though, the feeling passes. It might not be in a minute or a day or even a week, but soon the feeling is gone. It goes from being an “always” feeling to a “sometimes” feeling. In it’s title alone, this song captures this sensation. It’s so simple you feel a bit foolish for not thinking of it yourself.

Just as beautifully as it’s written, this song is masterfully composed. The melody and crescendo match the message they communicate with words, further hammering it home.

I could keep going, but instead I will let some of the lyrics from this beautiful piece of art speak for themselves:

• “Your memories are sceneries / for things you said / but never really meant.”
• “But your death it won’t happen to you / It happens to your family and your friends”
• “If you can’t survive, just try.”

4. Me and You Together Song

Album: Notes on a Conditional Form

Here it is. A marriage of so many of my musical interests mixed together into one song. As I have discussed many times already, this is yet another song that sounds so joyful but carries the message of something rather sad. It’s both classic The 1975 and completely unique in their songbook at the same time.

I love nearly every detail of this song, but here are some of my favorite things about it:

• Before I had a chance to listen to this song when it was released as a single, my brother texted me about it. My brother who has never understood my interest in this specific band reached out to me and said: “I fuck with that 1975 song.” It was an incredibly victorious moment for me as a sister.
• The 90’s-esque guitar melody in this song slaps so hard.
• The theme of unrequited love always works for me. Why? It’s sad, obviously.
• Matty’s vocals really do it for me in this song.
• The change at the end of the song from “I’ve been in love with her for ages” to “I’ve been in love with you for ages.” That shit warms my heart.

3. If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)

Album: Notes on a Conditional Form

I freaked out when this single dropped. There are a lot of reasons why, but the main reason is that the prior two singles – “Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America” and “The Birthday Party” – didn’t land for me in the way I wanted them to. The exhilaration for this new album that I was infected with after “Me & You Together Song” dropped was wearing off. But then, on April 23rd, I was spellbound again by what immediately became one of my favorite songs in the bands discography.

While I adore everything about this song – especially the groovy/retro style – it has a huge fundamental flaw. This song is all about relationships happening in a digital world. How relationships and their nature has changed in the age of the internet. It is – if you will please forgive me for this very cheesy comment – a brief inquiry into online relationships. This song belongs on their third album, it is the essence of everything they were going for. It’s a big miss in that sense, but an incredible success in every other way.

2. Sex – EP Version

Album: The 1975 (Deluxe)

The top two songs on this list have been the top two songs on every list of top songs I have ever created for The 1975. While new songs have entered the ranks and others have shifted around, these two remain the same.

Coming in at number two is the EP version of “Sex.” It took me a while to find this version of the song, but when I heard it I was enchanted. In my mind this is the far superior version of an already fantastic song.

This song is all about tension, all about the build up of an encounter that you aren’t sure is going to happen even as everything builds up toward the ultimate climax. It’s erotic, it’s sexy, it’s freaking rock and roll. The brash pop-rock sound of the song paired with the escalating tension makes for a delicious song that rewards on every listen.

1. You

Album: The 1975

I knew the moment I heard this song that it was special. It’s a song that begs to be listened to with headphones on, allowing you to get lost in the ethereal synth and guitar. In fact, much of my loyalty and adoration of this song builds from it’s sound. Gorgeous doesn’t seem to aptly describe the way the sound of this song makes you feel. It’s like a dream or a fantasy. Like something I had always imagined but never been able to put to words. When I first heard this song, I felt like I finally found something I had been looking for for a long time. Something I wasn’t even aware that I was searching for. It was a piece I didn’t know I was missing.

I could truly wax poetic about this song in a million ways and it still wouldn’t feel as though it accurately captures how much it meant to me on that first listen.

As for the content of the song, that is where this song keeps giving. I was a teen when I first heard this song. A teen who was in a friendship with someone that wasn’t working, but we still kept at it. When you are a teen you usually stay too long in these friendships because they are often convenient – they are with classmates or teammates or neighbors. Though this song focuses on a romantic relationship that has gone stale, a relationship that is toxic to those involved and anyone who arrives in their crosshairs, it still captures that friendship I had. It captures the frustration of practically hating the person you are friends with or sleeping with, but still keeping them in your life.

I have gone on to have more friendships like this and the lyrics of this song have continued to remind me that I’m not the only one who does this to myself.

Another fascinating piece of my relationship to this song revealed itself when I first recommended The 1975 to my equally music obsessed father. After listening to the first two albums, I asked him what his favorite song was. He later told me he was hesitant to be honest with me, because he thought I would judge him for telling me that “You” was his favorite of their songs. But he told me anyway and it solidified a few things for me: this song truly does kick ass and my dad also kicks ass.

I would be remiss not to acknowledge the final two minutes and fifteen seconds of this song. They just elevate it even more.

---

That’s it. Those are my top twenty The 1975 songs. How much will this shake up after their fifth studio album drops tomorrow? That remains to be seen. But if the singles they have released thus far are any indication, there is going to be some serious movement.