Matt Healy, frontman for The 1975, has offered an update on the release dates for new material from the band in an interview with Dork. He predicted ‘something’ next year, either a single or an EP, before a full album which should ‘come out early summer 2018.’
This announcement follows, and is roughly in-keeping with an ambiguous tweet posted at the end of September promising ‘New The 1975 – 2017’ without specifying exactly what this would be – album, single or LP. Of that Tweet, Healy said, ‘That was me slightly pissed and being honest with myself about how impatient I am. There’s not going to be another album next year because we all know how seriously I take our albums, but I think we’ll put out a piece of music.’
The band have been busy, finding time amongst their touring schedule, to develop new ideas and relationships. Healy said, ‘We’ve met so many artists, who we’re not necessarily going to be working with, but it’s been a very inspiring time for us. I just know we’ll definitely put out a single next year, or an EP which will lead up to the album, which I reckon will come out early summer 2018. It’ll be really sad but it’ll change the world ‘cause it’ll be fucking sick. You take what’s amazing about the previous record and you distill it and you refine it and extend it and you build on it, that’s always our idea.’
As for the tone of the album, Healy is clear that a definitive answer is a long way off, saying, ‘I don’t fucking know. I talk a million miles a minute. I’ll be writing one song and I’ll think I know what the whole record is going to sound like, and it completely changes. I know that it’s going to be more all over the place than the last record in regards to it being recorded in so many different places. It’s already quite a weird record. I’ve written a lot of it. It’s going to be… I don’t know. It is interesting to think I don’t know. I’ve got an idea of what I want to do visually and then it becomes a process of procrastination. Figuring out exactly what I want to do.’
Album speculation is not the only news Matt Healy has been making. He also hit the headlines after giving a speech critiquing Donald Trump and Brexit at the band’s gig at the O2 in London last night (15th December), per NME. Healy concluded with a rallying, healing cry of ‘We love you London.’ That’s just as well, as they’ll stay in the city tonight to play their second night at the O2, before they hit the road to continue the tour in Newcastle, Glasgow, Bournemouth and Cardiff. After a week’s break the band will hit the continent taking in cities including Amsterdam, Paris, Barcelona. The full UK dates are shown below:
16/12 – The O2 – London
17/12 – Metro Radio Arena – Newcastle
19/12 – The SSE Hydro – Glasgow
21/12 – BIC – Bournemouth
22/12 – Motorpoint Arena – Cardiff
