I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it (The 1975) By Susan McLean

I waited to cover new new album ‘I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it’ from The 1975 until March, when it was uploaded to Spotify. I read a lot in the meantime and my expectations were set very high, despite only liking ‘The Sound’ of the singles released off the album. The album starts with ‘The 1975,’ a short prelude track which I really enjoyed. Choppy and building, it’s a really interesting start to the album. The next few songs, ‘Love Me,’ ‘UGH!,’ ‘A Change of Heart,’and  ‘She’s American,’ are interesting and weird but I don’t love them.  ‘If I Believe You,’ ‘Please Be Naked’ and ‘Lostmyhead’ follow and both are great tracks, beautiful and unexpected and emotional. ‘The Ballad of Me and my Brain’ follows and was a little bit of a let down, and ‘Somebody Else’ is next, and another beautiful song. ‘Loving Someone’ is a bit dizzy and repetitive, and the title song is next. ‘I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it’ is really sweet and builds nicely. This is followed by ‘The Sound’ which is noticeably more pop. I have always liked this song, but you really have to be in the right mood or it grates. ‘This Must Be My Dream,’ ‘Paris,’ and ‘Nana’ follow and I’m fairly indifferent about them. Not awful, but boring. The album closes on ‘She Lays Down,’ which serves as a fitting end, which I quite like.

To be clear, I see nothing wrong with being weird, but I think this album wasn’t cohesive enough to pull off being this weird. There are songs that I will listen to, and the album art is great, but the album as a whole wasn’t the knockout I was expecting. Also, as much as the album title is sweet and lyrically beautiful, it really is the most obnoxiously, unnecessarily long title, ever. If you’re looking for that ‘I love this album’ review, here’s Stereogum.

Album art from Stereogum