The 1975 — Absolute Radio, London, 2016

Filmed live at the Absolute Radio studios in London in September 2016, this session brings together Matty Healy and Adam Hann, singer and guitarist of British band The 1975, for an intimate acoustic performance in front of a small studio audience. The pair play two songs from the album I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It, released in February 2016: the single “Somebody Else” and “A Change of Heart.” Stripped of the synthetic pop production of their studio counterparts, these guitar-led readings foreground Healy’s melodic writing and voice in a close, direct setting. This live performance belongs to the promotional run that accompanied The 1975’s international breakthrough in the mid-2010s, when the band moved between radio and television sessions. In just over ten minutes, the video offers a glimpse of the quieter side of the group’s catalogue, away from their large-scale stage shows, and shows how well their songs translate to an acoustic format. A concise document for followers of one of the era’s defining pop-rock acts, captured at the height of their rise.