Although The 1975 is gearing up for their new era and album, Being Funny In A Foreign Language, the band decided to revisit an older track in their discography for a live performance version. Recorded at England’s Real World Studios, they tackled “I Like America & America Likes Me” from their 2018 album, A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships. For the first minute of the video, lead singer Matty Healy is seen setting up the performance with the rest of the band and testing his vocals. The stripped-down piano version serves as a stark difference from the original’s electronic production.
Along with the live “I Like America & America Likes Me,” The 1975 had released a previous music video for their latest single, “All I Need To Hear,” — gearing fans up for the album out this Friday.
“Following the live session of ‘All I Need To Hear,’ the camera team are preparing to wrap but Matty wants to try and record one more song,” the video’s intro reads. “With nothing prepared ahead of time, the band start workshopping an improvised arrangement of ‘I Like America & America Likes Me.’ Fifteen minutes later, they are ready to play.”
“Matty’s voice is hoarse and cracked from recording the last song,” the caption also notes, seemingly preparing listeners for lower expectations and increased tensions to get this performance right, which they more than exceed. “There will only be an opportunity for one take.”
Watch The 1975 perform a live version of “I Like America & America Likes Me” above.
Being Funny In A Foreign Language is out 10/14 via Dirty Hit. Pre-order it here.
