Being Funny in a Foreign Language
| The 1975
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
Matty Healy taps Jack Antonoff to help produce a concise, meaningful, pop-focused album about love. It’s cliché, it’s obvious, it’s slyly profound—it’s the 1975.
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Slant Magazine
The band sticks entirely to live instrumentation throughout Being Funny in a Foreign Language, giving the album an analog warmth. Jack Antonoff’s production keeps Healy and company’s music sounding human even at its slickest. The songs click almost immediately, but they’re subtler and pricklier than a first listen would imply, with unexpected twists like faint spoken-word samples and odd bits of distortion on guitar and piano. And the 1975 uses these textures more tastefully than much of the music that inspired them.
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The Crimson
The 1975 chooses to be authentic to themselves on their fifth album and succeeds more than ever. By lyrically highlighting their various emotions through snippets into moments and impulses, the band has improved their ability to be introspective and allow listeners to understand exactly how they feel.
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The Guardian
A surprising but welcome paring back.
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The Diamondback
The 1975 is important for nostalgia and fun listening quality. They make good music to feel emotion to, to dance or to cry to. Sure, The 1975 may not be the Beatles or the Rolling Stones, but was it ever trying to be? Okay maybe The 1975 want to be. Either way, we can laugh at their egos but still relish in the genuinely enjoyable pop music they produce. The 1975 is a band whose mid-tier music is still catchy and whose amazing songs will blow your mind.
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WERS 88.9
Being Funny In A Foreign Language is not afraid to be sincere and is unapologetically earnest. It is deeply fresh. And simultaneously, it pays homage to their roots. This is seen in their consistent use of humorous, self-deprecating lyrics that still have the ability to be incredibly introspective. And it’s also seen in the sonic parallels to previous works from the band. While the sound of this album is so very unlike their usual sound, it is at the same time so authentically the 1975.
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Slug Magazine
The 1975 is the best of all things contemporary art. Under the direction of Healy, they explore social critique and post-modern expression. They’re irreverent and ironic at times, but they refuse to shy away from the genuine human experience of sentimentality and a search for meaning. They hold both in tension and create genuinely beautiful music. With Being Funny in a Foreign Language, these small-town British boys have really grown up, and they seem to just keep getting better with age.
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The Boar
Being Funny In A Foreign Language is the capstone of the band’s career thus far: it combines their debut album’s carefree attitude, the showstopping glam pop of I Like It When You Sleep, the heart-warming ballads of A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships and the comedic moments from Notes. Confident in their ability to make a stellar album, Being Funny In A Foreign Language sees the band embrace what it means to be The 1975 at their very best.
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Atwood Magazine
Achingly raw, brutally honest, and (above all) hopeful, ‘Being Funny in a Foreign Language’ is a softly stunning masterpiece: The 1975’s fifth studio album is their most realized, heartfelt, and loving work to date.
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PopMatters
The 1975 want to be funny in a foreign language, but on their fifth go-round, their ambitions are tempered in plain English.
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Indie is not a Genre
Overall, the album is their most refined, concise, and polished album yet. The 1975 have never been rough around the edges sonically, but there’s something about these 11 tracks, their shortest tracklisting to date, with their albums ranging from a busty 15 to an almost bloated 22 tracks, that really sets it apart as a body of work from everything prior.
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The Fire Note
till, Being Funny times out at a briefer 45 minutes, which allows the band to maintain musical and lyrical themes throughout, while delivering a collection of sturdy, artful songs in their own right. Antonoff’s production tends to polish off the rough edges, which in the past have delivered some of The 1975’s more compelling musical moments. On the whole, this is a strong example of Healy’s musical and lyrical gifts, captured in some of his strongest pop songs yet.
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NME
After a phase of experimentation, the band’s fifth album is succinct, cuttingly self-aware, and boasts some of their most-direct pop hits in years.
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Far Out Magazine
While Being Funny In A Foreign Language isn’t as avant-garde as some of their previous work, it’s The 1975 at their sincerest, proving that sometimes less is more.
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Commedia
“Being Funny in a Foreign Language” is a comprehensive and masterful album that blends the witty lyricism fans have grown to expect from The 1975 with a happier sound to show the band is no longer sex-and-drugs driven 20 year olds. They have found themselves in a good place with their lives and with their art.
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Hotpress
Being Funny… offers the closest thing you’ll find to a definitive snapshot of The 1975: multifaceted, self-analytical, occasionally hyperactive, but through it all, disarmingly sincere.
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The Courier Online
To summarise, although Being Funny in a Foreign Language is quite a tonal shift from The 1975’s previous work, it certainly still captures the pretentious yet heartfelt energy of the band.
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The Point
For such a deeply introspective album, the band gets to the point in just 11 songs. “Being Funny” left me feeling connected to The 1975 in a way I hadn’t anticipated or even thought was possible. It’s a work of music which I can see myself coming back to for years to come. Also, the sax closing out the album? Beautiful.
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It's All Dead
Suffice to say, I love this new album. It feels familiar in a way The 1975 always has once I finally gave in to liking a “boy band.” From “Looking for Somebody (To Love)”, a song about school shootings, to the bridge of “When We Are Together”, where Matty sings about “Central Park being SeaWorld for trees”, this album is as varied and as methodically put together as all of their other projects. It’s just more concise. It seems The 1975’s language lessons are paying off.
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Sputnik Music
As it stands, Being Funny in a Foreign Language is a perfectly fine record; it’s a serviceable pop rock album with folk and heartland rock leanings, which is a look that suits them surprisingly well. But whether they’ll expand on these influences or revert back to their older work… well, I suppose only time will tell.
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Stereogum
Every 1975 album has its hits and misses, and what this one lacks in absurd bombast, it makes up for in a lower percentage of failed experiments. Before Being Funny I had no category for a taut, focused, all-killer no-filler 1975 album. This ain’t that, but I now believe they have a release like that in them, and I’d love it if they made it.
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When the Horn Blows
Upon first listen, it’s a more mature sound. It’s a better composed and reformed album which is to be expected as the band start to enter their mid thirties. There’s still tongue in cheek references and ample opportunities for Matty Healy to display his best dad dancing on stages far and wide. The name of their new tour describes it better than I can, it’s The 1975: At Their Very Best.
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Her Campus
Being Funny In a Foreign Language is a good encapsulation of previous The 1975 sounds and iconic The 1975 sound with elements of 80s pop and more instrumentals. Though my favorite The 1975 album still remains I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it, I thoroughly enjoyed the new album. Being Funny In a Foreign Language is a refreshing indie-alternative album in a year where there have been countless indie-alt releases.
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DIY Magazine
‘Being Funny…’ is most certainly still The 1975; they’ve just refined their pop nous that little bit more this time around.
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AllMusic
With Being Funny in a Foreign Language, Healy and the 1975 do seem to have matured, confidently jumping off the ropes and back into the center of the pop music ring.
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The Rice Thresher
Overall, “Being Funny in A Foreign Language” lives up to expectations and gives fans who plan on attending their upcoming tour plenty to look forward to. Though nothing could ever surpass the masterpiece that is the band’s self-titled album, the new record exemplifies Healy’s healing: he is indeed capable of introspection and of empathy. And, of course, the album further proves that anything produced by Jack Antonoff is nothing short of perfection.
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Empoword Journalism
eing Funny in a Foreign Language is a refreshing insight into a more honest and intimate version of the band, and combines the relatable lyricism and 80’s instrumentals The 1975 are iconic for.
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Spectrum Culture
Being Funny in a Foreign Language is the 1975’s shortest LP to date, and maybe not so coincidentally, it also might be their best.
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Riff Magazine
Sonically, this is another great direction for The 1975. Lyrically, you hope that Healy is no longer in the place he was when he wrote these songs, because it’s not very funny.
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The Post
All in all, “Being Funny In a Foreign Language” is a much different sound for The 1975. While poetic and light-hearted, poignant with a touch of cynicism, this new album is definitely a project fans will have to listen to over and over again to really understand its full meaning. With some ups and downs sprinkled throughout, it’s still a strong release by the band, likely to grow in significance throughout the next several months.
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The Central Trend
Whether you create a movie in your head, understand yourself on a deeper level, or just find a new song to play in the background of car rides, know that you will gain something from this album. All I can say is how grateful I am for the time my brain got to spend wandering through this album, and the space inside of my mind.
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Our Culture
It’s maybe the only instance where the intensity of love, the need to focus on and capture something other than the spiraling self, is enough to briefly transcend it. Like most of us, the 1975 are often too busy remembering how to be themselves – but their world opens up when they let themselves forget, if only for a moment.
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The Oakland Post
While not altogether parting with the band’s trademark cynicism and weaponized irony, this album marks a surrender of sorts. In an uncharacteristic display of sincerity, the band moves to submerge listeners in the idea of love as something to hope for, to change for, to cling to in the midst of mayhem. At least for the 43 minutes and 32 seconds you’ll spend with this record, you’ll believe in it, too.
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Exepose
Whilst at times there is a sense of deja-vu in regards to theme and structure, there is certainly something for everyone in this exuberant, feel-good album.
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The Upcoming
There’s a lot of repetition in the lyrical structure here, characterising stuttering in the face of passion. The longer the album goes on, the hazier everything gets, and the more every tune and word blends into the next – until it circles back to where it started at The 1975.
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Forge Press
Although, sonically, the 1975 do not break any new ground on this LP, it represents a return to form in their acknowledgement that the proverbial wheel, when correctly used, does not need to be reinvented.
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Amherst Wire
Challenged with brutal critiques from fans and music experts, The 1975 stepped up their game just in time with the release of this nearly perfect album. Healy’s voice is paired exquisitely with his three companions’ musical talents, making for a cohesive, harmonious pop band. There are only one or two songs that are potential skips, but with that said, I could listen to “Being Funny in a Foreign Language” straight through without any complaints. We are able to learn about heartbreak, identity, and life’s wonder in this album, as The 1975 opened their hearts for everyone to feel the love.
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Consequence
Overall, Being Funny in a Foreign Language seems to capture The 1975 at not a transition point, but more a resting phase; they’ve returned with an album that feels far from the all-encompassing anxiety of their previous records, prioritizing the unity and spirit that all four members feel for each other, rather than spitting the chaos of our times right back at us. It may not reach the same cathartic heights of A Brief Inquiry…, but luckily, the band knows that it doesn’t have to.
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Mancunion
The 1975 are the ultimate marmite band – the band you love to hate and hate to love and reading this review might not change your opinion of them, but it may give you a sense of why they continue to be so culturally pervasive. Make no mistake: this is The 1975 at their very best!
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Epigram
In laying love before us in the form of irresistible hooks, sentimentalist lyricism and absolute excess, The 1975 drop the world-view of a neurotic individual with a frail state of mind and instead embrace the human capacity for earnest and pure feeling. At times it’s pastiche but it’s unrecognisably The 1975 in all their glory.
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Spectrum Pulse
But for a band that used to swing for the fences, this is a single, a double at best, and it lacks the sense of scale that often comes with circling the wagons and strip-mining your own mythology, a well-told joke but not one that cuts deeper. So… call it for the fans more than anyone, and good enough for it, but I wouldn’t call it great, I’ll leave it at that.
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Renowned for Sound
Being Funny… is another slight departure for a band who relishes on keeping themselves, and their fans, on their toes. The brass and strings throughout give this album a distinctive sound, compared with the rest of their discography. It’s a tight collection of songs, never slipping into the filler or over-bloated musicianship that their previous record fell prey to. Catchy hit after catchy hit litter the track list, whilst also allowing space for the slower numbers to shine. Lyrically, Matty shows that when he reins his creativity in and focuses, his words remain more consistent. Overall, it is arguably The 1975’s strongest record to date, or at least on par with A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships.
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Evening Standard
Finally, an album that leaves us wanting more.
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The Charlatan
Perhaps it’s Jack Antonoff’s credit as producer alongside drummer George Daniel’s efforts that combined cohesiveness with the signature The 1975 sound, but Being Funny in a Foreign Language is the band’s pinnacle achievement. They’ve managed to take their nostalgic guitar riffs and brass sounds and explore grandiose string melodies, all while maintaining their sincerity from every previous era.
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The Arkansas Traveler
The paring-back of “Being Funny” is exactly why it is so masterful. The 1975 has proved it does not need to take huge creative risks to be successful — it just needs to create a tender and powerful testament to human connection.
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The Line of Best Fit
The band sound more relaxed than ever before, perhaps because of stylistic intentions, but also due to a lack of stakes in the music. Everyone around Healy - his band, his label, most critics - agree with him, but he’s undeniably at his best when he’s a little desperate, a little eager to impress. “There’s no danger in this music” read a critic’s quote ironically placed in the video for “The Sound” way back in 2016. In 2022, The 1975 aren’t able to prove this accusation wrong.
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Stereoboard
‘Being Funny In A Foreign Language’ is a fabulous addition to a diverse discography, yet instead of feeling new it instead reflects the familiarity of returning home and taking a moment to relish tongue-in-cheek remarks and toe-tapping melodies. It’s The 1975 simply being The 1975.
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The Irish Times
The biggest problem with Being Funny in a Foreign Language — apart from it sounding like a substandard rehash of their most promising moments — is that there is no real craft to these clunky, desultory songs. Healy puts it best when he asks: “Am I just some post-coke average skinny bloke, calling his ego ‘imagination’?” You suspect that he already knows the answer — and now we do, too.
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Melodic Magazine
In the end, Being Funny In A Foreign Language is the project that previous releases were building towards. Gone are the sprawling instrumental tracks, the lengthy tracklist that spans every genre. The guys have matured since their debut album, and their music, their way of creating, has matured as well. As for why the album has divided various critics, there could be many reasons, but Being Funny In A Foreign Language was never promised to be anything other than a representation of the guys and what they were feeling or thinking upon its creation – something that they’ve lived up to on each album.
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Bring the Noise UK
It’s full of superb lyricism and brilliant musicianship, whilst also having an underlying darkness as Healy’s tortured soul comes out of the woodwork in the more intimate moments. This may be The 1975’s best work yet.
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Clash Magazine
Antonoff’s production influence is evident, especially for fans of Bleachers, but his input has clearly helped steer The 1975 in a more refined direction. ‘Being Funny In A Foreign Language’, like most of their projects, has something for everyone, but this time does stay in one lane – and that’s for the better.
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The Oswegonian
After the experimental 2020 release of “Notes On A Conditional Form,” which received mixed reviews, this was a breath of fresh air from The 1975. From tracks that felt reminiscent of what made fans fall in love with the band in the first place, to creating entirely new sounds with beautiful vocals and melodies to them, “Being Funny In A Foreign Language” is a fantastic listen.
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B-Sides
The 1975 has been at the forefront of pop rock, angsty music for many years now, a position they are likely to keep for the next decade due to their unique sound and relatable emotional appeal.
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The Arts Desk
Being Funny in a Foreign Language is, after 20 years of being The 1975, a contrasting attempt to stand still – relatively relaxed, largely played together in a room, with an unfamiliar, strong producer, Jack Antonoff (Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift) holding the reins. Four years since Healy quit heroin, and with lead guitarist Adam Hann a new parent, it’s the sound of settling down; of arriving at their destination, and admitting what they are.
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The Skinny
Whether it's reinvention or simply revisitation, The 1975 strip things back to basics to present one of their most complete records to date.
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Gigwise
Despite its concise, compact nature; even after dozens of listens later I still feel like I'm only scratching the surface with the record, like a goldmine of perfectly balanced layers waiting patiently to be noticed and unpeeled with every replay. Following what many considered to be a step back with previous album Notes on a Conditional Form, on Being Funny In A Foreign Language, The 1975 really have never sounded better.
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The Diff Daff
The album provides in depth commentary on postmodern society from the perspective of someone living in it. There is a level of self-awareness that listeners are able to relate to.
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Hybrid Magazine
The most conventional 1975 album yet from the pop-indie band who are anything but conventional.
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Mystic Sons
While Antonoff's influence seems to be the main hook amongst these upbeat gems, The 1975 have still managed to create a familiar and exciting release that would rather improve on what came before than explore something entirely different. Their constant pursuit of self-improvement has been a joy to listen to this last decade, and it feels like they aren't quite done yet.
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musicOMH
A gradual, encouraging maturation from Matty Healy and co which combines melodious songwriting with some bracingly abject lyrics.
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The Reflector
Overall, Being Funny in a Foreign Language reintroduces my fondness for The 1975 with catchy hooks by bringing back their original sound. It’s nice to see them fall back into a familiar space while making room for more stories to explore.
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Total Ntertainment
So, not only have The 1975 made their career-best work with Being Funny In A Foreign Language, but they’ve made what I believe is one of the albums of the year. It’s diverse, its poignant, its production is sublime, Matty Healy has proved that he’s one hell of a frontman and everything about this album is perfect. On Tuesday (11th October), Healy said via his Instagram story that if this album got any bad reviews, he would be “very very angry” at me and other journalists, but I don’t think he needs to worry about that because he’s impressed me more than the band have in the ten years I’ve known about them. This album is a musical polymath and it’s one hell of a treat for fans both old and new.
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The Eastern Echo
“Being Funny in a Foreign Language” is a great addition to The 1975’s discography as they continue forth in their career. It is no secret why they have gained the traction they did.
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The Indiependent
Being Funny In A Foreign Language is a more polished version of its predecessor. Notes On A Conditional Form, whilst arguably being the band’s least digestible album, was a necessary learning process for the group in order to test a more electronic and synth-based sound. The shorter tracklist seems to force the band to think more about the overall production of the album and what sounds they want to drive it forward. By taking inspiration from all of their previous LPs, The 1975 have been able to create their most comprehensive album to date.
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Purple Revolver
‘Being Funny in a Foreign Language’ rounds off with several gorgeous offerings. The gentle lo-fi jazz of ‘Human Too’ encompasses another exploration of past mistakes, while ‘About You’ is drenched in trembling synths and decadent string melodies. Though it is remarkably different, this record doesn’t feel like a step in the wrong direction; it is instead a lateral move which only reinforces the breadth of its creators’ talent. Strip it all away, and they still shine.
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The Lantern
All 11 songs make for an amazing listening experience, as each song paints a picture anyone can see.
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Buzz
THE 1975’s fifth album is that rare & surprising thing: an instant classic.
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1883 Magazine
Being Funny In A Foreign Language is a body of work that feels like a well-deserved victory lap for The 1975. It makes for a refreshing and thrilling listen and undeniably it proves why they’ve been and still are such an integral part of the modern music scene.
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