The 1975 Releases a Track That Is a Continuation of "Robbers" on Their New Album, 'BFIAFL'
According to frontman Matty Healy.
The 1975 has released their fifth studio album, Being Funny in a Foreign Language, which can be considered a nostalgic-sounding record. The track “About You” off the new album is almost like part 2 of “Robbers,” which is a fan-favorite song from the band’s first self-titled album released in 2013.
Lead singer Matty Healy took to the track’s Spotify Story feature to reveal that’s the case. “Just like I knew that ['I'm in Love With You'] through the video was going to be a continuation of ‘A Change of Heart,’ I kind of felt like musically, ‘About You’ was a continuation of ‘Robbers,’” he explained.
Healy further elaborated on how the song came to be. “I suppose stylistically it was a little bit cleaner, and then we had this idea of why don’t we go full Phil Spector, so rather than being able to feel the rhythm, it’s just this huge hall reverb, like ‘Be My Baby,’” he said. “That was the version Warren [Ellis] got a hold of. So of all the distortion — the moving, weird distortion — that’s actually Warren’s strings. That’s what gives the simplicity of the song — even though its major key — this gothic feeling.”
Lyrically, “About You” can also be interpreted as a continuation of “Robbers;” the former is reflecting on an old flame while the latter is about two toxic lovers.
“I got really obsessed with the idea behind Patricia Arquette’s character in True Romance when I was about 18,” Healy said at the time the music video for “Robbers” was released back in 2014. “That craving for the bad boy in that film, it’s so sexualized. It was something I was obsessed with.”
He added, “‘Robbers’ is about a heist that goes wrong. I suppose you can read it as a metaphor, and a girl who’s obsessed with her professional killer boyfriend. It’s a romantic ideal.”
Revisit “Robbers” below and listen to “About You” above. Being Funny in a Foreign Language is currently available on all music streaming platforms.
