You could literally taste the panic in the air when countless fans of The 1975 discovered that Matthew Healey, Adam Hann, George Daniel and Ross MacDonald had deleted their Twitter accounts and the band’s website went dark. A cryptic cartoon posted on Instagram added fuel to the already spreading fear that the band had disbanded.
The cartoon, which appeared to have been done by the band, reminded fans that this was the “era of reflection” and that they have to “reclaim our identity & repossess our control of it.” They ended their message by saying that goodbye was the hardest part in any relationship.
Of course, while some dedicated fans were undoubtedly pulling their hair out in grief, others were more skeptical and assumed it was a publicity stunt for their new album.
The 1975 have deleted all their social-media accounts http://t.co/MRy9qLXz8j pic.twitter.com/ZYfTdSrRm7
— TIME.com (@TIME) June 1, 2015
Luckily for the band’s dedicated fan base, it’s the latter.
All of the band’s social media accounts, along with the boys’ personal Twitter and Instagram accounts were reactivated. But this time around, an image that was the reverse of band’s debut album cover also appeared.
A press release from the band also confirmed the rumors that a new album was in the works.
“This is the beginning of a new chapter for The 1975,” the statement reads. “Our new record signifies the start of a new world for us.”
While it might have caused undue stress to multitude of female fans, the move was well-played. It gave the band a chance to reboot and start with a clean slate while drumming up interest at the same time.
And now that The 1975 has everyone’s attention, the group is planning on holding 16 live shows in the UK. The venue and the number of performances are admittedly very small considering the band’s popularity and will likely cause problems.
It’s something that Healey is well aware of when he predicted that “only the most dedicated will end up with tickets.”