Matty Healy and the boys from the 1975 have returned with another single from their upcoming album, Notes on a Conditional Form, out on April 24. “The Birthday Party,” the third cut off the forthcoming project, takes us on a digital detox. In the music video, co-directed by Ben Ditto and Jon Emmony, an animated Healy relinquishes his phone and is outfitted in a white linen getup before entering an extremely online Garden of Eden replete with memes. Healy soon encounters a yogi incarnation of Pepe the Frog. Seemingly disturbed, he backs into a motley ensemble of internet characters, including the crying cat and anime icon Earth-chan. As Healy sings about chatting with a guy named Greg, a man races between trees, plastering posters reading “Looking for Goth GF” before a banner of our favorite Butthurt Dweller appears. Then we get a quick medley of Healy doing some Fortnite dances.
Healy’s journey continues up in the clouds, where he catches the eye of a distracted boyfriend and does a little shuffle with a distorted Shrek, a toothy rainbow teddy bear, the terrifying Momo sculpture, and the girl that’s like “ermahgerd.” We even get a cameo from the coolest Danny Phantom character, certified e-girl Sam Manson. As the song comes to a close, the rest of the band appears, sans instruments, for a little jam session. Then all the memes join hands in a circle and Healy tenderly embraces a carbon copy of himself. Did you catch all that?