Hi there, Dear Reader. Grab a cup of coffee, put down your morning paper (support print media! – Ed), and tune in – it’s time for your latest ‘what the hell are The 1975 up to’ catch up. Speculation, wild theory and grasping at straws to follow.
When we left our heroes last night, they’d just posted a cryptic set of clues to lead us to a conversation with a robot, hidden on their website. You can read more on that here.
Since then, there’s been some movement on the ‘maybe this is a thing’ front.
Smart types have noted that, on the band’s website, there’s actually two countdowns. If you know source code (and we do), you’ll be able to see there’s the target we’ve already talked about – basically running down to midnight on 31st May/1st June. That’s when we’re currently expecting ‘Music For Cars’, their third album, to arrive.
However, commented out – that means it’s in the code, but doesn’t do anything – is a second date. When converted from its techy timestamp, it points to 10:54:39 GMT on Sunday, 13th May.
Why? No idea. But it’s there. If you want some possible explanation, @sugaroactedpill on Twitter remains much smarter than we are.
GUYS I FOUND THE SIGNIFICANCE BEHIND MAY 13TH AND WHY THERE MAY BE A TIMER ON THE WEBSITE FOR THAT DATE: it was the day of a general strike and demonstration in paris and over a million people marched in it
— 𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐚. 𓆩♡𓆪 (@tinylittlecomet) May 3, 2018
And while we’re at it, here’s another rabbit hole of a thread to bend your mind.
https://twitter.com/sugarcoatedpiIl/status/991901105129967617
https://twitter.com/sugarcoatedpiIl/status/991901252140187648
https://twitter.com/sugarcoatedpiIl/status/991901534207315968
https://twitter.com/sugarcoatedpiIl/status/991901877532053505
https://twitter.com/sugarcoatedpiIl/status/991902050446295042
However, there’s a possibly more urgent piece of buzz to consider. If you head to the page for today’s Annie Mac show on BBC Radio 1 (where Dotty is sitting in, ‘FYI’), you’ll see the description says ‘a huge returning artist brings in the Hottest Record’.
Now, if we were guessing, we’d say there’s a high probability it’s actually Florence, who’ll be bringing her Machine in to debut new track ‘Hunger’ that she told us about earlier this week. After all, ‘artist’ when talking about a specific act does suggest one person, rather than a whole band. But then, given we know we’re getting Florence’s song today, why be so secretive? We guess Bastille are starting to move too, and Dan Smith does some radio stuff on his own, but we’re expecting ‘Quarter Past Midnight’ to arrive next week. It’s worth keeping an eye on.
Update, 11:12am: The Hottest Record is indeed Florence, so that’s that sorted.
HUNGER. TONIGHT
7.30pm BST. First play and interview on @AnnieMac, @BBCR1 pic.twitter.com/UWwGm279Gp— Florence + the Machine (@florencemachine) May 3, 2018
More as we obsessively stalk a band’s online presence 24/7 until sleep deprivation finishes us off. Catch up on the 1975’s buzz-fest so far here.