Editor’s Note: The Albumism staff has selected what we believe to be the 110 Best Albums of the 2010s, representing a varied cross-section of artists, genres, and styles. Click “Next Album” below to explore each album in the list or for easier navigation, view the full introduction & album index here.
THE 1975 | A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
Dirty Hit/Polydor/Interscope (2018)
Selected by Andy Healy
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As we can’t include two albums by the same artist in this “Best of the Decade” list (shakes fist at Editor), I was torn between two equally brilliant albums by The 1975: 2016’s I Like It When You Sleep For You Are Beautiful Yet So Unaware and this one. However, on balance, A Brief Inquiry is an album that rivals the brilliance of I Like It When You Sleep and builds on it, perhaps ultimately replacing it as their crowning moment. “Inquiry” is less questioning and has The 1975 appearing more confident in what it means to be The 1975. It doesn’t bother with being this or that, and embraces being many things, going where the songs themselves dictate. Whether it’s the dancehall inspired “TooTimeTooTimeTooTime,” the metapop of “Love It If We Made It,” the skipping soul of “Sincerity is Scary” or the indie-rock of “I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes),” the band and album defy being pigeonholed. I called it the album of 2018 upon its release and I stand by it.
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