With the single “People,” The 1975 made it clear that their upcoming album, Notes On A Conditional Form, will not be the same record as A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships. The song embraced an aggressive rock sound, which made it hard to predict what the band’s new single, “Frail State Of Mind,” would sound like. Would it continue to group’s trek into rock territory, or would it be something else entirely?
Well, following its premiere on Apple Radio’s Beats 1, “Frail State Of Mind” is out now, and it’s certainly not like “People” at all. “Frail State Of Mind” is a sort of return to the less in-your-face aesthetic of A Brief Inquiry, and it’s a rhythmic tune that sounds like a spiritual successor to “Tootimetootimetootime.”
In a 2018 NME interview, Healy said Notes On A Conditional Form wouldn’t be a similar album to A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships: “I’ve realized is it’s never going to be a continuation or an association with A Brief Inquiry. It’s a completely different record. Six months now is the same as what three years was before. Think about the amount of sh*t that happens in six months’ time. It will be a different thing and a different time. […] It’s very homely. It’s a lot about home, it’s a lot about mental health, it’s a lot about domesticity. We created A Brief Inquiry in the domestic environment that this next record is about. There isn’t a ‘Love It If We Made It’ yet. There isn’t anything like that.”
Listen to “Frail State Of Mind” above.
Notes On A Conditional Form is out 2/21/2020 via Dirty Hit/Polydor Records.
