Amid growing excitement for the Oct. 14 release of their fifth album, “Being Funny in a Foreign Language,” The 1975 released the album’s third single “I’m In Love With You” on Sept. 1. 

In this song, lead singer Matthew “Matty” Healy sings about his inability to express his love for a partner and the painful romantic yearning that comes along with it. Over an infectious guitar riff, a basic drum beat and an indie-pop sound reminiscent of previous hits, Healy repeats the title’s phrase “I’m in love with you” over and over again in the chorus (a whopping 24 times to be exact). Fans are loving it.

Healy has not been one to shy away from heavy themes in his music. Refreshingly, this new song is a surprising, yet much appreciated, shift from the overall tone of the band’s previous albums; this change is done in terms of its straightforward, happy lyrics as well as its uplifting instrumentals. Healy is open in his lyrics about his struggles with heroin addiction, mental health and heartbreak. The musician is known for somewhat pretentious and overly-erudite lyrics in other songs, such as calling himself  “the Greek economy of cashing intellectual checks” and a “sycophantic, prophetic, socratic junkie wannabe.” Healy delivers a fun, passionate, stripped back and relatable hit with “I’m In Love With You.”

“I’m In Love With You” seems to represent a return to the band’s beloved 80s-inspired indie pop-rock sound, and it evokes a callback to their popular 2020 song “If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know).” Even though The 1975 have tackled numerous genres throughout their career, ranging from punk-rock to country, one thing remains the same: the band’s lyrics are well-known, at least by fans, for being consistently and delightfully self-referential — this fact alone warrants its own analytical essay. Phrases from songs such as “Robbers” and “The City” from their debut album can be found in multiple songs from their second album “I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it,” and even on their most recent project “Notes On A Conditional Form.” They’ve even brought back their infamous clown characters from the six-year-old. “A Change of Heart” music video for this new single, effectively turning “I’m In Love With You” into a prequel. These lyrics and references, therefore, act as a kind of hidden love letter to fans who have grown up with the band and witnessed the evolution of their sound. 

Needless to say, the decision to make “I’m In Love With You” sound identical to “If You’re Too Shy” was obviously an intentional one. The melody is strikingly similar, and Healy’s emphasis on certain lyrics is too obvious to ignore. Die-hard fans have come to expect and love the band’s technique of cleverly echoing previous works throughout their music. Yet, “I’m In Love With You” somehow seems a formulaic copy of their previous hit and falls short of evoking that nostalgic tenderness when fans recognize a connection between old and new songs. Sadly, “I’m In Love with You” rings in a slightly hollow, simplistic attempt to top the charts.

Healy somewhat continues his soul-searching style with this new single as he briefly mentions some deeper issues in his romantic relationship with English singer-songwriter FKA Twigs. He gives voice in many of his songs (most notably “Love It If We Made It”) to his support for                    addressing issues such as the climate crisis, immigration inequities, the prison-industrial complex and the mass incarceration of people of color in the United States. 

Despite this passion, Healy makes fun of himself in “I’m In Love With You” as he recognizes how much more he has to learn about truly empathizing with what it’s like to live inside someone else’s skin: “You show me your black girl thing / Pretending that I know what it is / Apologize, then you meet my eyes / It’s simple and it goes like this / I’m in love with you.” The average listener is likely to view this verse as problematic and insensitive. Even though his self-deprecating acknowledgement is a preemptive apology for his ignorance, the line should have been written differently. 

But with the upcoming U.S. and U.K. concert tours selling out fast, fans seem to have forgiven The 1975 and are still in love with them regardless.