Song Stories: The 1975: About You

When The 1975 released their fifth studio album, ‘Being Funny in a Foreign Language’, it was hailed as a "return to form", a record that traded the sprawling experimentation of their previous work for tightened songcraft and organic production. While the album is packed with upbeat, Jack Antonoff-produced hits, one track stood out as the undisputed emotional titan: ‘About You’.

The Spiritual Successor to ‘Robbers’

From the moment the shimmering, shoegaze-infused wall of sound begins, fans of the band’s 2013 debut felt a wave of nostalgia. Matty Healy has described ‘About You’ as a direct continuation of ‘Robbers’, the band’s definitive anthem of toxic, youthful romance.

While ‘Robbers’ was the sound of being in the chaos of a relationship, ‘About You’ is the sound of looking back at it through a hazy, bittersweet lens. It captures that specific feeling of seeing a ghost of an old flame in a crowd, the "liminal space" of a memory that refuses to fade. The resemblance is more than just thematic; it shares the same yearning, cinematic scale, bolstered by the ethereal vocals of Carly Holt (the wife of lead guitarist Adam Hann), whose verse provides the song’s haunting heart.

A Highlight of ‘Being Funny in a Foreign Language’

Upon the album's release, ‘About You’ was instantly earmarked as the standout highlight. In a record that explored the complexities of "being funny" and "being real," this track was the moment where the band let the artifice drop. It is a soaring, cathedral-like piece of music that proved The 1975 could still produce the kind of earnest, heart-on-sleeve anthems that defined their early career.

‘At Their Very Best’: The Live Evolution

The song’s legend only grew during the band’s monumental ‘At Their Very Best’ and subsequent ‘Still... At Their Very Best’ world tours. The staging, a high-concept, multi-level "house" provided a surreal, domestic backdrop for the performance.

However, it was during ‘About You’ that the visual storytelling reached its peak. As the song began, the house would go dark, plunging the stage into shadow. In a striking nod to the band’s origins, a door within the house would begin to glow with a sharp, white neon outline. This glowing rectangle served as a direct visual callback to the iconic black-and-white neon box from their self-titled debut album cover. By isolating this single glowing frame against a blackened set, the band created a literal doorway into their past, reinforcing the song's role as the spiritual successor to ‘Robbers’.

In the live setting, this wasn't just a performance; it was a grand, theatrical haunting. The wall of shoegaze noise would wash over the crowd as they stared at that familiar white outline, a symbol of where they started, appearing in the house of where they are now.

The Glastonbury Finale: "Everything Will Be Alright"

The ultimate testament to the song’s power came during The 1975’s headline slot at Glastonbury. Transitioning from the high-energy satire of their set into the ethereal opening chords of ‘About You’ created a sense of collective catharsis across the Worthy Farm crowd.

Just before the opening notes of the finale kicked in, Healy delivered a speech that felt like a definitive statement on their legacy and their future:

“It’s cool to be mysterious, but it’s cooler to be honest. We’re not going anywhere. Everything will be alright.” before saying “We’re The 1975 from the internet, we love you guys. This song’s ‘About You’.”

Closing their set with this track felt like a statement of permanence. It wasn't a raucous, high-tempo ending, but a deeply emotional one. As the strobes cut through the Somerset air, ‘About You’ solidified its place as one of the great Glastonbury closing moments, a song that felt as big as the sky above it.

Watch the stunning Glastonbury performance here: The 1975 - About You (Live at Glastonbury)