At My Very Best (A Resolution)
I’m not exactly one for new year’s resolutions. Not that the idea of setting intentions is off-putting to me, rather that the timing of this tradition never seemed quite fitting. In the depths of winter things don’t seem particularly achievable. But for 2024, I decided to implement a simple change. This year, the agenda of sincerity is playing first fiddle.
I grew up in a city of a medium population and relatively small area. As one of the youngest cities in the country, it may not have a history as rich as others. It is, however, rich in cultural life. This is a great privilege – one that doesn’t necessarily protect you from the pressures of being a kid with big dreams and no sense of self to back them, riddled with insecurities, and an inner voice constantly reminding you that your outstanding qualities make you stand-offish more than any kind of special. But a privilege that makes you slightly more sensitive to the possibility of creating an inner life incomparable to reality. And with it, an appreciation for the ability to escape through the culture you’re surrounded with. I owe mine to that place.
So for my new year’s resolution, I am tapping into that which has been confined within, and only shared with select few. I am unifying my inner life with the outer one. Stripping it from cynicism, and (post)irony, and that thing we do where we muddle the meaning of our words and behaviours, where we’re not genuine about anything meanwhile signifying everything. No more quasi-honest declarations followed by “just kidding”. Only the allowing of space for the things we’re brave enough to express.
And I’m not the only one.
You can see the shift happening in our collective consciousness. And, as anything else, it comes through in the music. The bands of the moment are letting go of pretences and baring it all. Even the controversial ones. Idles are leaving their frustration and futile anger in the past, opting for something more productive and bringing about positive change (after all, love really might be the fing). And The 1975, well…
It’s strange to have a band so fluctuating in reputation be so tightly wound into your coming of age narrative. This music would quite often physically carry me through the streets, from the 5:30AM breakfasts through rush hour commutes, in social gatherings or family walks during which I sneakily put one earphone in to daydream about possible futures. Thematically, there was rarely a divergence – attitude-wise, I can’t say the same. But we’re here now, and we’ve come full circle.
They’re Still… At Their Very Best. Just for a moment, letting the outside buzz fade into the background. No more postmodern acts of provocation and over-stimulating production. No more Subway Surfers on the LED displays and full saturation in internet culture. The apartment is still there, and a couple TVs also – but it’s no longer a set verging on the hyperreal. It is now a home.
The new “old” (last year’s) show cuts through the bullshit that was so fascinating to follow, especially if you’re a media student and a big-ass-nerd. It does make for a more meaningful experience. You’re not treated as a vessel to impose ideas on, or to be shocked, or maybe even offended. You’re not there for a point to be proven. You are rarely directly addressed, if at all. You’re there for what we’re so desperate for at the moment: recognition, comfort of being in a human mass, and the confirmation you’re not on your own. For 2 hours of a densely packed setlist and no intermissions, you’re welcomed into a space that lets you forget all the noise. For a brief moment, the TVs light up with clips of news items and current events, and you’re reminded of what’s out there. But it’s as if to say “yes, there are things at hand that need your attention, and they’re not going away – except, in this short while, we find ourselves in this strange apartment with no walls, and we’re going to sit with it together, so make yourselves at home”.
For all it’s worth, you and I – we’re alive. There’s no time to hide behind layers of bitter ridicule.
Only to look through the cracks, and let the glimpses of sincerity shine their light on you.
