S Poddar
Matty Healy recently made a subtle remark about his brief romance with Taylor Swift, alluding to his “casual romantic liaisons” during a recent interview. The frontman of 1975, 35, and Taylor, 34, briefly dated last year. Their split apparently occurred in June this year. As far as one can tell, though, Taylor allegedly reflected on that time on her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, which she dropped back in April of this year. Matty seems to have evolved from writing of past breakups and heartbreaks.
The song The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived is often believed to be written for Matty, but he has already shared why he does not revisit those personal experiences in his compositions. When he was on Joshua Citarella’s podcast, Doomscroll, he spoke about his composition process and also elaborated on the reason why his music no longer revolves around romantic entanglements or heartbreaks from previous relationships.
“Last year, I became a much more recognizable public figure for a variety of reasons. The only thing that really interested me, though, was the work I was doing,” Matty shared on the podcast. “A lot of artists get wrapped up in their own lore or the things happening around their lives that people are aware of, and they want to address that. I understand why, but it’s just not where my focus is.”
Reflecting on his earlier work, Matty said that his first albums with The 1975 were almost personal diaries, and most of them discussed heartbreak and relationships. “In my first record, there were these small bits of heartache—things like that—but I’ve evolved,” he explained. “If I were doing a record now that focused on my past romantic relationships or the gossip surrounding me, it would feel insincere. I don’t want to be that guy who keeps drawing from something just because he’s famous.”
Music just no longer is relevant to me now to be based on old personal experiences. Since those experiences happen years ago by the time an album of music sees the light, he said. “I see people doing that—releasing songs about things that happened to them years ago—and it just doesn’t captivate me. I’ve always been someone who resists maintaining the status quo,” he said.
At least Matty, from what she knows, seems utterly unbothered that she’s drawing on old love life for inspiration. Taylor Swift, on the other hand, has built a career writing songs over her own past relationships-as an example, with big names like John Mayer, Harry Styles, and Taylor Lautner. The new album looks no exception, and fans have already been guessing which songs refer to Matty as a reportedly romantic partner.
Indies report that following the release of The Tortured Poets Department album, Matty did fine with the supposed song allegedly written for him. But Us Weekly cited a source saying that Matty wasn’t concerned about the entire album and that his friends and family were relieved. “Matty still respects Taylor but there was a little concern on how she might narrate him in her music,” said the source. “His family was worried Taylor might tear him apart on the album, but it seems like it turned out alright.”
According to Matty’s inside circle, his personal life was not disturbed by the record. “Matty’s family was concerned that the Swifties of the world would villainize him, but thankfully, that didn’t seem to happen,” the source added.
Matty Healy’s comments on Doomscroll indicate that even though he recognizes the public is clamoring for more of his ex, for him, he has moved past this place of writing music about it. His record remains on developing and trying to walk new creative boundaries, a place he has left behind heartache songs as only being part of his musical beginning lineup.
