No amount of album delays can stop The 1975 from hyping up Notes on a Conditional Form, their upcoming LP and fourth studio album overall. To celebrate its eternally impending release, frontperson Matty Healy asked an all-star group of musicians, ranging from Phoebe Bridgers to Rina Sawayama, to cover different songs from the band’s catalog on Instagram Live.
Healy knew what he was doing when he curated today’s livestream extravaganza in partnership with UK magazine The Face. Every hour starting at 11:00 a.m. ET today, a new musician would take the Instagram Live reigns at The Face and put their own spin on an original by The 1975. All said and done, things went pretty smoothly.
Pale Waves’ Heather Baron Gracie kicked things off with a cover of “Sex” and indie popper Cavetown followed with “Medicine”. Shortly after came rising star Beabadoobee with a gentle rendition of “Milk” as well as Gracie Abrahams reworking “Somebody Else” from I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It.
The livestream ended with a trio of marquee acts who delivered touching pop performances: Clairo hopped on to play “Robbers”, Bridgers swung by to cover “Girls”, and Sawayama shut things down with an on-brand, unique interpretation of “Love It if We Made It”. Watch replays of everyone’s cover songs below via The Face.
The follow-up to 2019’s A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships will now drop on May 22nd. Based on the songs The 1975 have previously shared — “Me & You Together Song”, “The Birthday Party”, “People”, “Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America” featuring Bridgers, and “If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)” starring FKA twigs — it’s got quite a wide range of genre bangers and tongue-in-cheek titles.