Rock’s Two Icons du Jour

Jehnny Beth and Matt Healy have much more in common than music. Their sense of personal style and attitude are inspiring a generation of young women and men.

Curiously, two rockers Jehnny Beth, 31, and Matt Healy, 27, have a lot in common. For starters, each of them lead new (or rather, new-ish)

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British bands. Beth is the lead singer and the main driving force of ‘Savages’. Healy is the frontman for ‘The 1975’. Both are bands that have just released their sophomore full-length albums. They have something more in common—Beth and Healy are style icons for a generation of young men and women. Beth, who a few years back, took a clipper to her head and got a fuzz, now sports short dark hair and favours black and has a markedly aggressive air, particularly during the band’s live performances—often throwing herself into the mosh pit and surfing the crowd. Healy, whose band’s shows are spectacular and flamboyant, favours what is labelled as a goth hipster look (skinny black clothes and leather jackets all of it accessorised with unalloyed self-confidence), a look that is quite obviously put together with extreme care. And, if you’d like to know, he takes off his shirt in concerts. Often.

But the two couldn’t be more different. Beth’s ‘Savages’ is an all-woman postpunk band that seems to revive London’s early punk credo with visceral guitar riffs, noisy loudness and Beth’s unabashed and in-your-face vocals. Their new album, Adore Life actually betters their passionate debut album, Silence Yourself. It’s a powerful set of 10 songs on a short (under 40 minute) album but one that hits you hard and makes you instantly fall for it. Love, life, relationships are Beth’s themes for the album’s songs but all of it is delivered with an undertone of a brand of dark humour.

Beth is really French (her birth name is Camille Berthomier) and she is openly bisexual. Sad Person, a song on the new album that can quickly become your favourite, she sings: “Love is a disease/ the strongest addiction I know/What happens in your brain/Is the same as a rush of cocaine/The more you have/The more you crave.” And on When In Love, she wonders: “Is it love or is it boredom/That took me up to your bedroom.” Lyrics are one part of the band’s oeuvre; the sound is the other. Fiery guitar riffs; hit-me-in-the-solar-plexus kind of bass and drums; and delicious, delicious noise, all delivered in high decibels is what makes a good punk rock package. Beth and her bandmates—Gemma Thompson (guitar), Ayse Hassan (bass) and Fay Milton (drums)—deliver that package over and over again replete with authentic punk cred but also with attitude that is boiling over. If you listen to Adore Life or even their first album, Silence Yourself, you could be left with wanting more from them: a third album, a fourth, and so on. ‘Savages’, please don’t stop!

Being a bit of a denimhead, I know that Matt Healy likes his Acne and Nudie jeans, both of which, as fashion-forward readers will know, are Swedish brands. Healy likes his pairs to be skinny and a little androgynous—I read somewhere that he’s not averse to wearing women’s boyfriend style jeans. But his band, ‘The 1975’s’ music couldn’t be more different than what the ‘Savages’ make. Alt-rock, postpunk, ethereal, pop rock… all of these are frequently used by critics to describe ‘The 1975’s’ music. Their first album, self-titled, came out in 2013, and immediately got four and five stars from all the pundits but it also got pigeon-holed as a pop album—catchy, upbeat and enjoyable though not really hot in the depth department. But that’s being patently unfair to the band. Healy and his band do blend synths with rock guitars and an inherent danceability into their music but listen carefully and you will catch the influence of soul (Otis Redding), Shoegaze (‘My Bloody Valentine’), R&B (D’Angelo) and even jazz. It’s with their second and latest album with a mouthful of words as its title (I Like it When You Sleep, You Are So Beautiful Yet Unaware of It) that sees the band come into its own.

It’s easy to label ‘The 1975’ as dance-pop. It’s easy to describe Healy as an overambitious star in a hurry (in a recent interview he sounded quite unembarrassed when he said ‘The 1975’ had become a huge and very important band for the youth). But then you’ve got to listen to some of their lyrics. On Ugh! from the new album, Healy sings: “Hey boy, stop pacing ‘round the room/Using other people’s faces as a mirror for you/I know your lungs need filling/Since your gums have lost their feeling/But don’t say that you’re giving it up again./And, do you have a card?/My irregular heart beat is starting to compact itself/He’s just a simple diabetic that prevents the emphatic/From being just and giving up.” So yes, you can dance to ‘The 1975’; or you can sit back and listen to what they’re saying; and, of course, you can also do both at the same time!

In an NPR conversation on Bob Boilen’s podcast, Healy’s thoughtful side comes out. He talks about how the smart-phone has changed the paradigm of listening to music—enabling youngsters to surf through the eras with ease, go back in time for as far they want to and listen to musicians and bands that were alive or trendy far before their time. It’s difficult, therefore, to be cool and authentic because today’s audience know it all—what came before and what’s happening now.

Beth from ‘Savages’ has a role off the stage that is still embedded in music. She has a weekly radio show on Apple Music’s Beats1. It’s called Start Making Sense With Jehnny Beth and on most episodes she has a musician guest with whom she talks about… what else… music. She’s had David Byrne, Mike Patton (Faith No More), Johnny Marr. Hell! She’s even had Black Flag’s Henry Rollins on the show. It’s a show where her conversations are candid and honest and garnished with her endearing French accent. But, more than all of that, it’s her eclectic choice of playlists that makes that show one that you’d never want to miss.

From the December 2016–January 2017 issue of L’Officiel India.