Amidst the uncertainty breaching our reality due to the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, The 1975 seeks to offer fans and listeners alike a much-needed reprieve by transporting us back to the head-bopping, feel-good sound that brought the band its initial fame way back in 2013.
On April 23, the band dropped its latest single, “If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)” just weeks before the release of its highly-anticipated album, “Notes on a Conditional Form.” This recent single acts as an impetus for reflection on the question of how we, the people of the 21st century, are supposed to navigate our experiences with love and relationships due to our increased reliance on the internet.
Listening to this song is like jumping into a time machine – a trip complete with lyrical references to classic movies like “Psycho” and “The Shining,” saxophone interludes that plant us in the 1980’s and poignant lines from songs like “The Sound,” the band’s 2016 single, and “She Way Out” off the band’s debut album in 2013.
The band seeks to ask a single question: What does it mean to be in love (or maybe even lust) in 2020, especially in the midst of a pandemic hindering our ability to be with each other in the physical sense? The answer to that question within this single seems to overlook the idea of finding true love on the internet. For the assumed man and woman inserted into this song, what they’re feeling isn’t love — it’s infatuation. The way that the pair is only interested in the physical aspects of an online relationship is reflected in the way that the female referenced repeatedly says, “maybe I would like you better if you took off your clothes…” The male is no better, stating that he “just wanted a happy ending.”
The world has changed quite a bit since the 1980s and even the 2010s — and that’s the point of this single. In 2020, we aren’t looking for love online; we’re looking for lust and the fulfillment of that feeling in a thoughtless way, but “…if you’re too shy…” and you’re not ready to accept our new reality, it’s not a big deal — the past will always be there to ground you.
