Melissa Kacar

With The 1975 's sophomore album, I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it , the band stepped into a bright, post-modern pop world. They stripped away the black‑and‑white aesthetic that defined their self‑titled debut era three years prior and moved into something even more vivid and expansive. The hazy, neon-lit aesthetics mirrored the artistic ideals that made up their early work, but refined through an even more ambitious and broader lens.  "I think, as an idea, the conviction that it took to stand by that as an album title is very representative of what the album is like. It's quite bold and unafraid to be sentimental and dramatic and overly romantic," Matty Healy told  NME  in a 2016 interview. "It kind of captures the narrative of our psyche over the past year and a half, which is something like a lot of people who come off a big upward trajectory of success. It's quite a dynamic time, and I think that it's expansive...

"Narcissist" was a standout single from No Rome 's 2018 EP RIP Indo Hisashi , his first release under The 1975's label, Dirty Hit . He worked closely with George Daniel and Matty Healy throughout the entire project, so their sonic influence runs through the EP, but this track is the only one to officially feature The 1975 as a collective. In a 2018 interview with Zane Lowe for Beats 1, No Rome - the stage name for London-based Filipino artist Guendoline Gomez - opened up about the early concept of the song and their collaboration. He said, "I made a demo then I sent it over to Matty cause we were listening to the stuff that I'd been working on recently. I sent him over that track and he also fell in love with it the same way I did, and he was like, 'oh, do you wanna do something with it?' so I was like 'yeah.'" The song has such an infectious hook and is truly an underrated gem. It captures the feeling of going round and round in a rel...

The Japanese House 's "Sunshine Baby" has a certain warmth and glow, while also carrying the weight of inevitable change and the conflicting feelings that come with it. Amber Bain, the British singer-songwriter behind The Japanese House, captures that feeling in such a stunning way. Her vivid and introspective songwriting captures the mundane, small details and translates them into an intimate and profound snapshot of a moment in time. "I wanna be a part of it, I wanna sing along, the feeling when the windscreen wipers line up with the song, perform my stupid rituals, everything is cyclical, hold on to this feeling 'cause you won't feel it for long," she sings in the opening verse.  This song has such a wistful, golden feeling that is also full of longing. It's deeply rooted in nostalgia, while still looking onward with optimism. "Sunshine Baby" captures the complex feelings that come with knowing that one chapter is closing and the future ...

brat and it's completely differe nt but also still brat totally redefined the concept of a remix album. To top off the massive year Charli xcx had following the release BRAT , she took the concept of that album and every single song and completely transformed it into something brand new. It takes the idea that every song's concept, or even just song title, can have so many different lives that can be (and should be) explored further than just the original version of it. Many of the songs don't even feature a single lyric or melody from the original versions, but still find a way to expand and evolve the meaning behind each. Charli's approach to this project is as artful as it is groundbreaking and its long overdue for her to finally get her flowers. By embracing the reworking of concepts, Charli showcases the dynamic potential that exists within her music. "I think what's interesting about the remix album... is I was writing the original record when I was in ...