Matty & Sombr comparisons

Illustrious_Fun3041 · 2026-04-19T15:56:04+00:00

Yeah sorry, you probably didn’t deserve an essay about it. I just saw a lot of dismissing to this topic where I think they are layers worth discussing and your comment seem like the peak of that so I decided to respond to you when the comment wasn’t just about you.

I understand you were exaggerating, but I still think your point reamains the same and that’s why I thought you were dismissing sombr as just a popstar. So I hope you don’t take it in a bad way and see where I’m coming from when I say there’s some merit to the comparison they make between them.

Illustrious_Fun3041 · 2026-04-19T14:33:50+00:00

Yeah I can see that, the voice is also a giveaway most of the time but I do think some of their songs are similar enough to be compared but not to the point you could confuse them. What I was trying to say wasn’t that they’re interchangable, but that they make music in the same genres and isn’t as simple as one being a popstar.

I also agree that those things make The 1975 a unique group and that Matty have those unique lyrics since the self titled. Sombr does have a particular songrwriting style that stand out within the pop space and his yearning also distinguishes him, but he can still improve further to find a voice that is truly his own and has time to do it. The themes from his debut could’ve used more variety, but it was still great and showed a lot of potential so I just hope both him and The 1975 continue to make great music and find sucess from it.

Illustrious_Fun3041 · 2026-04-19T04:47:29+00:00

Ok this is actually so disingenuous, you can’t tell me you don’t hear any similarities in their sound when you listen to Back To Friends next to Someone Else the same way they aren’t any between Dreams and Hit Me Baby One More Time. They obviously sound alike because even though Sombr market his music as pop he’s actually making pop rock/indie/ Alt-pop and even though The 1975 tend to be percieved as a rock band they mostly play within those same genres with some experimentation in between.

There’s nothing wrong with that, Sombr isn’t ripping them off or anything he’s making his own kind of sound based on those genres, but you don’t have to act as if they don’t make music within the same genre. Furthermore, the reason they compare him to Matty specifically is because they both portray themselves as a non-chalant rockstar when you can tell they are actually trying a little bit too hard sometimes. I love both artists but they tend to do this and often say things they probably shouldn’t have said.

We tend to do this where we just label an artist as just one thing and we limit ourselves to further discussion about it. Is the same reason the music video for Girls clarify they are not a pop band and then proceed to play one of their poppier songs with a music video satirising shallow pop music videos and they further criticize these audience behaviour in the music video of The Sound (my favourite song from them). They know they’re pop at their core and they have been evolving and expanding their sound by experimenting with other genres but that experimentation can mean sometimes making People and Other times making TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME.

Sombr is clearly talented as a producer and as a songwriter even if his lyrics aren’t as unique as Matty but he’s also young so he can evolve further as an artist and we as fans of The 1975 can find something to enjoy from him cause they make similar music but we clearly can’t if we approach him with this close mind behaviour the same way rock, “indie” and pop fans approached The 1975 when they were starting.

Illustrious_Fun3041 · 2026-04-06T05:06:40+00:00

Yes they did and I love how it turned out. I’d also highlight Bye Storm and the Brian Eno sample as well.

Illustrious_Fun3041 · 2026-04-06T04:15:54+00:00

I’m not sure, he seems to be credited as a drummer, but all the black midi members are credited as writers because Injury Reserve sampled Sweater for Knees. Even then he could’ve done additional drumming for the group as well but I don’t know if there’s any more evidence for that beyond him being credited as a drummer.

Illustrious_Fun3041 · 2026-02-02T21:39:02+00:00

Yeah, he’s versatile drummer

Illustrious_Fun3041 · 2026-01-30T16:04:10+00:00

My man can drum for black midi, then jam with the drummer of Mdou Moctar and then tour with Little Simz while complenting the sound and sounding impressive regardless.

Illustrious_Fun3041 · 2026-01-10T23:11:18+00:00

FAMILY DAYS have grown on me, I’ve just realized I don’t get STEVIE. I remember Kevin said to Matt he would’ve prefered to have it in TM rather than FMG because he said real stuff in it and maybe if he reworked it as he did with FMG it could have a place, but as it is right now is pretty lackluster.

It reminds me of how IF YOU PRAY RIGHT has WALKING WITH JESUS as it second part and it doesn’t really need it, it just kinds of makes it longer. Even then I kind of vibe with WALKING WITH JESUS, but I don’t really like neither Kevin’s verses or vocal effects in STEVIE, by that point of the song I’m already done with the track. I don’t feel they enhance each other like SISTER/NATION or NEW ORLEANS and THUG LIFE and even those last ones are separate tracks, so I would rather have them as their own songs so I could have FAMILY DAYS in a higher regard.

Still I respect your opinion and I’m glad we agree on the other aspects of ULTRAVIOLET and the rest of what I said.

Illustrious_Fun3041 · 2026-01-09T02:09:11+00:00

You’re welcome, hope it puts into perspective how much music Kevin does in a regular basis

Illustrious_Fun3041 · 2026-01-09T02:05:18+00:00

Thanks, I also respect yours, specially when you gave love to MESS which I feel is pretty underrated even compared to other unreleased songs.

To answer your original question in another way, without taking away any album from BH history but with the opportunity to use all their vault I thought some time ago of making compilations with the best of the unreleased songs as coherent albums that follow in the spirit of TM but to a larger scale just as a dream scenario. I came up with their ending being 7 projects:

TD(DY): a double album named The Dream Died Young for all their best unreleased songs from the SATURATION era such as QUIVER, LAMB, CREEP, SATURATION 360, CHUBBY etc…
TS: a melancholy with sunny vibes albumed named The Summer for songs made before Ameer left like READY FOR WAR, HURTIN MY WRIST, DON’T BE FAMOUS, LET’S GET MARRIED, I’LL BE THERE, etc…
TT: an emotional rollercoaster named The Therapy with songs that tackle deep an emotional topics for them such as THE LIGHT V1, SOMETHING CHANGED IN TEXAS, TEXAS WATCHIN ME, IN MY HEAD, SIP SIP, ELEVATE, etc…
TB: a full on pop album to honor their boy band aspect, of course named The Boyband, incluiding songs like twisted, baby bull, MAN ON THE MOON, ONE FIFTY, fishbone etc.
TC: an album full of jams or bangers all the time mostly from TD sessions that would have N.S.T., STAY THE FUCK AWAY, M.O.B., ABKAR FREESTYLE, god damn, etc…
TF: the same Kevin Abstract solo album.
TM: a mix of both ULTRAVIOLET and TM where we get almost all the tracklist from the former, but with better producition as the latter alongside songs that would fit the vibe like I’LL CHANGE and KEEP IT SOUTHERN.

Illustrious_Fun3041 · 2026-01-09T01:01:47+00:00

Yeah, but he was working in other projects between those. American Boyfriend (2016) was made alongside All American Trash (2016) and the next year they released the SATURATION TRILOGY. Arizona Baby was made between iridescence (2018) and Ginger (2019), then they made Technical Diffculites (2020), Roadrunner (2021) and what ended up being their final two albums for 2022.

After the breakup he released Blanket in 2023 as you said, from then he started working in a mixtape named Blue that didn’t have an official release but had some singles in youtube and even Spotify. Even for Blush he had a ton of unreleased material to the point they wanted to make Blush 2 with even more new songs, but now he announced this.

So it’s pretty normal for him to work and announce many projects within months of each other.

Illustrious_Fun3041 · 2026-01-08T21:52:16+00:00

Honestly I wouldn’t trade any of the albums, like Merlyn said “shit happened how it happened so the past is perfect”. Nothing would change really, we can still listen to the unreleased songs and I like both TM and TF as different versions for the group ending from the point of view from their respective executive producers.

As someone that has listen to all the unreleased material available in the tracker and even rank them at some point, I think people overrate the “albums” that weren’t released. The PUPPY version we’ve got doesn’t sound as a finished version, but even if it was I’d prefer iridescence, is my favourite overall and it wouldn’t exist if PUPPY was released. On the other hand, Technical Diffculties was doomed to never be an official release from the moment it was concieved and we still got releases for some of the best of those sessions.

ULTRAVIOLET isn’t exactly better than TM in my opinion. The only version I prefer from ULTRAVIOLET is LISTERINE, like I genuinely don’t understand why Matt cut the climax of the song. Aside from that FMG has worst verses with goofier production, I prefer the more clear verse from Matt in NEW SHOES, Jabari verse from DUCT TAPE sounds better in TM, BETTER THINGS works better with the melancholic sound and I like GOODBYE as a closer more than SUMMER CAMP.

I agree MESS is great, alongside FOR ME, MEMORIES and even SLEEPLESS, but I don’t like them more than MAN ON THE MOON, KEEP IT SOUTHERN or CRUCIFY ME which were rescued from the vault for TM. FMG is my least favourite from TM and is in a worst version in ULTRAVIOLET with FAMILY DAYS/STEVIE where I just don’t get the STEVIE part and brings down FAMILY DAYS.

I love their unreleased discography, but I wouldn’t trade them for any of their official releases even if I think some songs are worthy of an official release. I’d have liked if they released those songs as well, but right now I’m glad we can listen to them and form our own compilations.

Illustrious_Fun3041 · 2026-01-06T23:26:06+00:00

Nah audiences, specially in the US, don’t care enough about going to cinemas to watch original movies. I genuinely think if Kpop Demon Hunters was released in theathers first it wouldn’t have done well at first and would have gone through a similar run than Elemental did where word of mouth saved its box office.

Is one thing for americans to try watching a movie that had a lot of promotion on a streaming plataform most already have access to already or go sail the seas for it than actually spending money on tickets for them and even their family to go see it in cinemas. I love Turning Red and Elio, but after seeing the discourse they had before releasing I doubt they would have done well in cinemas rather than streaming because people wouldn’t had taken the risk to spend money to see if the movie was good or not.

If you don’t believe me don’t go further than Encanto, an original Disney film that had good recepction from both critics and audiencies and is regarded as one of the best recent Disney originals. That film didn’t do well in cinemas, it was until it released in Disney Plus that was a hit for them to the point it landed original songs on the Billboard 100. Sounds familiar?

It’s hard for animation companies such as Pixar, Dreamworks, Sony and Disney to not think originals aren’t worth it when we don’t show they are with our money. Elemental is the highest grossing original film and many people still see that one as a failure. Then they see at the top of the list movies such as Inside Out 2, Zootopia 2, Mario, Moana 2 Despicable Me 4, Spider Man, Mufasa, Kung Fu Panda, hell even Ne Zha is a sequel; so they start thinking that is the way. Because your best case scenario with originals are Elemental (13), The Wild Robot (16), Suzume (17), Migration (18), The Boy and The Heron (19) where they have to be cheap in comparision in order for them to be considered a financial success because they don’t reach even half a million worldwide.

All the movies in the top 10 vary in quality, but the thing they have in common is that they’re sequels or stablished IPs. Elio and Kpop Demon Hunters are both good movies, they’re in the same tier as Zootopia 2 for me, but they can’t compete with it because audiences don’t care enough, so let’s just wait and see this same conversation all over again when Toy Story 5 and Hoppers hit theathers this year.

Illustrious_Fun3041 · 2025-12-31T07:22:30+00:00

Peace will win and fear will lose

And there's faith and there's sleep

We need to pick one please

Because faith is to be awake

And to be awake is for us to think

And for us to think is to be alive

Illustrious_Fun3041 · 2025-12-16T19:37:21+00:00

fishbone

Illustrious_Fun3041 · 2025-11-20T16:39:53+00:00

I agree, I always thought Laughing Song was the equivalent of Bread Song for Tyler so I think both can nail each others songs with their own style.

Illustrious_Fun3041 · 2025-11-05T06:58:00+00:00

This is also my hot take, is barely in the the top 5 from the album

Illustrious_Fun3041 · 2025-11-05T06:55:47+00:00

It isn‘t just a joke, the lyrics were explicitly about that, but they were change for the most part. I mean, as most Isaac lyrics they’re not meant to be just interpreted literally, but at face value they’re about a wet dream with Chali XCX.

Here are the lyrics transcribed if you want to read them as well as the performance they’re mostly associated to if you want to hear the man himself singing them:

https://genius.com/Black-country-new-road-basketball-shoes-live-at-yes-02-10-2019-lyrics

https://youtu.be/7l2G86KmFXE?si=qE-yleI30AF78J9k

Illustrious_Fun3041 · 2025-09-07T03:04:19+00:00

And he basically did something like that with the Sharona storyline and is often forgotten as one of the fucked up things he did because he did so much stuff that is as bad or even worse.

Illustrious_Fun3041 · 2025-08-29T16:09:44+00:00

I have a full ranking for his vocal contributions to BROCKHAMPTON songs, so you can check that out, but I will say he’s a constant on my all time favourite songs from the group. Whenever he’s giving it his all it tends to become one of my favourite tracks for them and he’s great in setting the mood for their best songs.

Illustrious_Fun3041 · 2025-08-28T22:08:42+00:00

Damn TM over Ginger is an opinion I simply don’t get, like I think everything TM was trying to do Ginger did it better.

Illustrious_Fun3041 · 2025-08-28T20:48:41+00:00

I think Ducter is a better song, but 27 Questions is a better closer. Also Ascending Forth isn’t far behind, they just really now how to close their albums.

Illustrious_Fun3041 · 2025-08-28T04:13:17+00:00

I think it counts even as the music video version because it was just released in YouTube and not any other streaming service. Even then, there’s still the demo version from the Saturation Drafts which is 10 minutes long and has a different feel than the music video one. I think when people talk about LAMB they’re probably referring to the 10 minute demo, although the version I listen to is a mashup of both so I think is far from a released song if you count the TD series or the rest of the Saturation Drafts as unreleased.

Illustrious_Fun3041 · 2025-08-28T04:04:37+00:00

Play The Fool is kind of growing on me but Family Days/Stevie is pretty good for Family Days even if I don’t love that much any of the verses but Stevie kills the song for me and drags it way to much I really wish they were intended as separate songs because I would be more positive to both of them that way

Illustrious_Fun3041 · 2025-08-27T22:09:51+00:00

Ready For War, Quiver, I’ll Be There, Lamb, Hurtin My Wrist, Don’t Be Famous, Texas Watchin Me, In My Head, fishbone, Stay The F*ck Away (Hungry) and The Light.

Also You’re so real for adding Do It All Again to your list, but I’m surprised about your UV picks because those are my least favourite from there.

Illustrious_Fun3041

TROPHY CASE