1975 A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships | CD

Listening to the 1975's ambitious third full-length album, 2018's A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships, it's clear that the Manchester outfit is not the same band that delivered their effusive 2013 debut. They sound somewhat more akin to the band that issued 2016's I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It. If that album found lead singer Matt Healy pushing the group's emo and post-punk influences ever pop-ward, embracing R&B and adult contemporary stylings, then A Brief Inquiry takes those changes even further. Along with the catchy pop of "TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME," and "Give Yourself a Try," the 1975 achieve a grounded sophistication, offering up the sweet '90s R&B groove of "Sincerity Is Scary" and the dewy, jazz trumpet-accented "Mine." That both of these tracks wouldn't sound out of place on a D'Angelo album is a kind of triumph. "It's Not a Living (If It's Not with You)" comes the closest the sparkling sound of their early hits and goes ev