"Somebody Else" is the fifth single from Manchester alt-rock quartet The 1975's (lead singer and guitarist Matt Healy, drummer George Daniel, guitarist Adam Hann and bassist Ross MacDonald) I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It (2016). NME's Rhian Daly has noted that the band's sophomore effort departs from their radio-friendly debut, with its "swampy post-rock instrumentals and references [to] mental health, religion, addiction, loneliness and fame". The album blends elements of indie rock, R&B, and ambient music, while Healy takes on various postmodern, self-aware posturings:
"There's a misconception that we're a rock band, that there's this desire that we want to be a rock band and that we're telling people that we rock. We're not. We play with the ideas of rock'n'roll, whether it be seriously or ironically. But we're a post-modern pop band that references a million things. I don't even know what my band is half the time."
Matt Healy, Exclaim.ca
All this genre-bending posturings can get slightly tiring, which is why the melodic and atmospheric melancholy of "Somebody Else" - which reassuringly recreates '80s adult contemporary sound - was a refreshing change. The bridge (with the interjections of some pragmatic materialism ('Fuck that, get money!) into an otherwise emo and emotionally intelligent song) was a pleasant surprise (while the scene where Healy hooks up with himself in drag in the video was another kind of surprise) and its hard to be unmoved by the chorus:
I don't want your bodyBut I hate to think about you with somebody elseOur love has gone coldYou're intertwining your soul with somebody else
I'm looking through youWhile you're looking through your phoneAnd then leaving with somebody elseNo, I don't want your bodyBut I'm picturing your body with somebody else
Lyrics: Genius
Healy has revealed to the BBC that the song was inspired by post-break up jealousy (and was the last track to be written for the album), proving yet again that negative relationship outcomes can serve as great material for singer-songwriters:
"I'm not proud of that jealousy but I think everybody struggles with that kind of ownership. Both sides feel that way when your partner of a certain amount of time goes off and is with someone else in a sexual or emotional way. You have that guilty jealously. You don't want them but you certainly don't want someone else to have them".
