"The Sound" is a song by English band the 1975 from their second studio album, I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It (2016). It was written by band members Matty Healy, George Daniel, Adam Hann, and Ross MacDonald. Mike Crossey handled the production alongside Daniel and Healy. The London Community Gospel Choir provide the song's choir vocals. The song was released on 19 February 2016 by Dirty Hit and Polydor Records as the fourth single from the album. Inspired by the pop albums of his youth, Healy sought to channel the memorable melodies from them and create an "unabashed" pop song. Healy first presented the song to One Direction, who declined, so the band decided to record it.
A house, pop, disco and indie pop song, "The Sound" contains a maximalist four on the floor production inspired by music of the 1980s. It features a disco house piano, syncopated synthesisers, synthesised strings and an electric guitar solo, and incorporates aspects of new wave, funk, and R&B, among other genres. Focusing on a desire for attention, sex, and intellectual validation, the lyrics detail a relationship struggling with deceit. Throughout the song, Healy describes an obsession with the sound of his lover's heartbeat. Upon release, the song was met with widespread acclaim from contemporary music critics, many of whom deemed it a standout from I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It. Specific praise was given to the production, lyrics and the 1975's embrace of pop music, drawing comparisons to M83, Daft Punk, MGMT, and Passion Pit.
"The Sound" appeared on numerous year-end and decade-end lists, including NME, Pitchfork and Time. Commercially, the song peaked at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's highest-charting release on the chart at the time. Elsewhere, it peaked at number nine on the US Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and in Scotland. "The Sound" reached the top 50 in Ireland and Japan. The song was later certified double platinum in the United Kingdom by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). An accompanying music video, directed by Tim Mattia, was released on 26 February 2016. The visual features the band performing inside of a neon-lit glass cube surrounded by strangers, while criticisms of the band are interspersed on pink screens.
Background and development On 14 January 2016, "The Sound" was officially released as the third single from the band's second album I Like It When You Sleep for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It, which debuted in February 2016.
Rumours of a collaboration between Healy and One Direction surfaced in 2014. The singer later confirmed the veracity of the rumour during an interview with Q, revealing that he entered the studio with the band. One Direction—fans of the 1975's album—invited Healy to a writing session while they were in London. Healy entered the studio with the band for several hours but was unsure of what to present them. He decided to show them one of the 1975's "poppier demos", choosing "The Sound". The members of One Direction were ambivalent toward the demo and wanted to emulate the band's other material instead. Regarding the experience, Healy said: "I thought I'd see how it all works but it just didn't really work very well. It didn't resonate so I thought I'd stick to my own thing."
During the premiere of "The Sound" on Annie Mac's self-titled BBC Radio 1 show, Healy noted it was inspired by "pop music earworms, that kind of ear candy" that he listened to as a child. The singer said that he naturally channelled influences of "big pop records" into the song, specifically their memorable and catchy melodies. Regarding the single's inclusion on I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It, he felt its confident and "poppy" sound juxtaposes it from the album's other songs, telling Mac: "['The Sound'] wears its pop on its sleeve and it's kind of unabashed." In an interview with NME, Healy revealed that "The Sound" is the oldest track on the album, having developed the bridge and the chorus during the writing sessions for The 1975. Regarding the reasoning behind its exclusion from their first album, he said the band lacked the confidence to include it.
Music and lyrics
Musically, "The Sound" is a house, pop, disco and indie pop song. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Hal Leonard Music Publishing, "The Sound" is set in the time signature of common time with a moderate tempo of 120 beats per minute. The track is composed in the key of C major, with Healy's vocals ranging between the notes of G3 and A4. It follows a chord progression of F–Em–G–Am–Dm. "The Sound" has a maximalist 1980s-style four on the floor production, which consists of an up-tempo rhythm, declarative chord pulses, a Disco House piano, an upbeat and repetitive piano melody, syncopated keys and synthesisers, church-like stabbing synths, synth pulses, jittery funk guitars, synthesised strings, a muted electric guitar and an electric guitar solo in the final post-chorus. The song uses a vocal-warping technique that Brennan Carley of Spin compared to the work of M83, while the London Community Gospel Choir provides a vocal harmony and a choir of voices. The track also contains aspects of dance-pop, electropop, 1980s new wave, funk, R&B, pop-gospel, disco house and synth-pop.
Lyrically, "The Sound" describes a relationship that struggles with deceit and is written in a conversational style, while Healy delivers the lyrics in a sulking tone, according to Ailbhe Malone of The Irish Times. The single opens with the chorus as Healy sings: "Well I know when you're around / 'Cause I know the sound / I know the sound / Of your heart". The upbeat chorus is contrasted by verses filled with gibes and deceit: "You're so conceited that I say that I love you / What does it matter if I lie to you?" He refuses to entertain the fear of rejection and displays self-awareness in the couplet: "It's not about reciprocation, it's just all about me / A sycophantic, prophetic, Socratic junkie wannabe." The track contains sexual undertones presented as innuendos, such as the singer asking a woman to have an orgasm a second time: "Oh, baby, won't you come again?" Healy also derides his partner for calling him out of boredom while she masturbates, despite having ended their relationship to preserve his mental health. Throughout the song, Healy details an addiction-like obsession with the sound of his lover's heartbeat. The singer has memorised its cadence, contractions and expansions, and is now unable to live without it. Healy sings about knowing her heartbeat so intimately that he can hear it even when she is not around. The singer focuses on his desire for attention, sex, intellectual validation, intimacy and immortality, and is eager to both promote himself and air his insecurities.
Thomas Green of The Arts Desk described "The Sound" as a house song composed in a "Bryan Adams-with-Chicane-style", while Pryor Stroud of PopMatters said the single contains "just one, continuous eruption of pure-pop kinetic energy". Euphoria Magazine editor Erin Hampton called the track a "party anthem" and said it connects the 1980s-influenced pop of the previous singles from I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It together. Natalie Harmsen of Atwood Magazine deemed "The Sound" the album's most upbeat and "explosive" song, noting it drastically contrasts the rest of the record. NME writer Rhian Daly also said the track is one of the album's most upbeat songs, both musically and lyrically, while comparing it to Stardust's "Music Sounds Better with You" (1998). Chris DeVille of Stereogum noted similarities between "The Sound" and the works of Justice, Daft Punk, MGMT and Passion Pit. Renowned for Sound editor Jessica Thomas said the single continues to distance the 1975 from their "darker self-titled days", a sentiment shared by Malone, who noted the track takes a "left turn from indie". In contrast, Alison Boghosian of The Daily Orange felt "The Sound" is reminiscent of their debut album. Pitchfork writer Laura Snapes said the song's melody is evocative of the band's "She Way Out" (2013). Kitty Empire of The Guardian described the track as a "withering look at a relationship". Greer Clemens of MTV News said "The Sound" can be read on two tiers; casual listeners may hear the hook and groove, while deeper listeners would hear self-aware irony and subtle, constant self-criticising. Annie Zaleski of The A.V. Club said the release exemplifies the mix of self-awareness and ambivalence present on the album, noting it "describes a totally self-absorbed guy who is yet alert enough to notice his crush".
Critical reception Upon release, "The Sound" was met with widespread acclaim from contemporary music critics and later appeared on several year-end and decade-end lists. In NMEs list of the 1975's best songs, "The Sound" was ranked at number two; Tom Smith said it has become "a knowing celebration of a band who stayed true to what they're good at – penning radio belters and having a laugh while doing so", while praising the playful attitude and "shimmering" production. Collin Brennan of Consequence of Sound deemed the release a standout from I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It. Calling the track an album highlight, Jamieson Cox of The Verge praised the amount of hooks and labelled it an "irresistible bit of thumping house". Matt Collar of AllMusic declared "The Sound" an album highlight and flatter the "brightly infectious" hooks, noting it is similar to the work of Prince. Malone designated the song as her Track of the Week, commending the "transcendental [and] climaxing" chorus and calling it "fizzy, giddy and joyful and exactly what we need this grim January week". Amy McCann of Variance deemed the track the album's best pre-release single, calling it "irresistible".
Hampton praised the production of "The Sound" and its embrace of pop music, while calling it "fresh, body moving and beautifully produced". Sean Adams of Drowned in Sound commended the song's "anthemic magic" and Matthew Strauss of Pitchfork said: "It's fun and clever and anthemic while taking the piss out of big anthems at the same time." Thomas lauded the track's "infectious" beat, saying it is "undeniably one darn catchy pop tune crafted with the signature [t]he 1975 flair". Tom Connick of DIY commended the 1990s-style production of "The Sound", self-referential lyrics and embrace of pop music, calling it "an unashamed throwback to the massive pop of days gone by, relishing in the glitz and glamour that the charts are so sadly devoid of". Alex Ross of The Fader called the single a "soaring, danceable anthemic track", commending the lyrical reflection and sense of escapism, while highlighting its blend of 1980s synths, 1970s rock and late 1990s style. Harmsen said the track "seamlessly" combines aspects of 1990s and modern pop, while praising its "ease and happiness". Rolling Stone editors Jon Dolan, Brittany Spanos and Christopher Weingarten lauded the "neon-bright enthusiasm" and "tenderly catchy refrain" of "The Sound", saying the guitar solo and synths reference 1980s new wave without "getting too lost in nostalgia".