Latest news with #MattyHealy
CairoScene
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- CairoScene
What If Tumblr Was Built on Mashrou' Leila, Not Arctic Monkeys?
So I grew up on Tumblr. It shaped the way I write. It shaped my music taste. And both of those things ended up shaping me into a music journalist, a career that started somewhere between obsessively reblogging The 1975 edits and being a hardcore Arctic Monkeys fan. I went to their concerts more times than I can count (still waiting to see Lana live… one day). Back then, my phone background was a grainy black-and-white picture of shirtless Matty Healy that I had to hide inside a folder on my Samsung Corby so my mom wouldn't find it. I had entire pages filled with 'aesthetic' gifs, lyrics in Courier font, and that eternal search for curated melancholy. So I had this random idea one day at work, and I sent out a quick survey, just asking my friends and coworkers if they remembered the Tumblr era. And they did. Deeply. Not just the photos and the filters, but the feelings. The obsessing. The quiet heartbreak we all romanticized at 2AM. Everyone had their version of it, but somehow the memories all rhymed. It felt like we were remembering something sacred we'd all built together. And maybe that's what we miss the most, this collective act of reimagining. So I decided to take it one step further: to imagine what Tumblr might've looked like if it had been built here. Around us. Around our music. Our lyrics. Our dramas. Because let's be real: we didn't just have the aesthetic, the makeup, the fashion, the deep stares out of taxi windows. We had the language. Arabic poetry can make you want to isolate yourself from the world and cry on the bathroom floor. We didn't need to scream 'Lovin' you is hard, bein' here's harder', we had 'Inta Eh' by Nancy Ajram in a goddamn nightgown. Why did Lana get the monopoly on sad-girl seaside rage in 'High by the Beach' when Nancy literally did it first? That's what this is, Tumblr-core reimagined. A world where the Middle East and North Africa shaped the internet's soft grunge aesthetic instead of watching from the sidelines. Where we didn't just reblog, we created the canon. What If Our Nostalgia Didn't Need Translation? Let's talk about it. The feel of Arab Tumblr would've been split into two parallel universes - one revolutionary, one romantic. But at their core, both were built on the same thing: feeling everything all at once. And for many of us, this wasn't an aesthetic we curated, it was just life. On one end, you've got revolutionary-core: the gritty grayscale of resistance. Protest footage reblogged with Arabic graffiti across the walls. Photos from the streets of Syria, Egypt, and Tunisia during the Arab Spring, tear gas clouds, raised fists, cracked asphalt and hope. Martyr dedications in bold white text on black backgrounds. Smoke curling in slow motion over lyrics like 'صوت الحرية بينادي'. Sadness, yes, but with purpose. Melancholy layered over memory, over movement, over mourning. And the soundtrack? Bands like Cairokee with 'Yal Midan' and 'Matloob Zaeem', whose rise was directly carved out by the revolution. The kind of music that made you feel like history wasn't something that happened, it was something you could scream into existence. Jadal playing in your headphones on the bus ride to a school that might be closed tomorrow because of political unrest. 'Akher Oghneya' lyrics scribbled in your notebook like a secret prayer. You'd scroll past rainy street photos of downtown Cairo captioning 'Kenna Netlaka' by Fayrouz. Or find an old radio playing protest songs in the background of a grainy kitchen snapshot. A Darwish quote pasted over a photo of a scribble 'قف علي ناصية الحلم وقاتل' The vibe was grief, but it was alive. Then there's fluffy-core - soft revolution. Glitter in tea glasses. Pomegranate seeds on Persian rugs. Cats stretching in window sills as the call to prayer echoed in the distance. Henna tattoos, evil eye bracelets, Tarot decks next to Nagat cassettes. The kind of mornings where you wake up on your teta's balcony to the smell of coffee and the soft hum of Fayrouz from a neighbor's radio, a memory so shared it feels collective. Girls in fake Doc Martens & skinny cigarettes (or shisha) typing lowercase captions like 'normal people scare me'. Books stacked on a nightstand, Gibran, Qabbani, and a half-read English translation of Rumi. The nostalgia wasn't performative. It was rooted in something tangible. Something that smelled like jasmine and sounded like hope in the background of a childhood memory. And the architecture? Already Tumblr-coded. Cracked walls with vines growing through them in Palestinian cities. Hand-painted ceramic tiles from Morocco. Yellowed photos of old balconies from Lebanon. Mashrabiya shadows in Old Cairo filtering sunlight like God himself applied a sepia preset. It was all there, the melancholy, the romance, the rebellion, long before hashtags or aesthetics told us it was cool. Arab Tumblr wouldn't have been an aesthetic we borrowed, it would've been one we invented without knowing. What If Our Fangirls Looked Like Us? Let's be honest: if you were on Tumblr, you had a secret fanbase. Whether you were writing moody poetry in the tags, or just reblogging edits at midnight, you were definitely hiding something. One Direction fanfics, Alex Turner thirst edits, maybe even a Lana Del Rey shrine. But imagine if our fanbases looked like us. Instead of The Neighborhood or 5 Seconds of Summer, we'd be posting Mashrou' Leila lyrics like they were gospel. Zooming in on 'Lil Watan' w 'Raasuk' and setting it in bold white Arial on a low-res photo of a protest in Beirut. We'd be crying over 'Shim El Yasmine' the way we cried over 'Robbers.' There'd be Jadal song lyrics in the captions of selfies taken on Retrica app with tangled headphones. Elmorabba3 edits floating around with glitchy VHS filters. Teen girls would be wearing their band t-shirts with denim skirts, fishnets, and that signature chipped black nail polish that says i overthink everything and romanticize heartbreak. And don't even get me started on the Arab girlie pop icons. There would've been a whole soft pink Tumblr niche dedicated to Sherine, Ruby, Nancy, Haifa, Elissa—dark hair, blonde highlights, lip liner, spaghetti straps. CD covers scanned and shared around like holy relics. Posters taped to every bedroom wall. Let's be real: Arab girls started all the aesthetics that are trending now (specially Y2K core). We just didn't get the credit. What If We Typed in Arabic? If you were on Tumblr between 2012 and 2017, you know that lyrics weren't just lyrics, they were personality traits. Black text on a white or pink background, no punctuation, always lowercase. Halsey said 'I found god / I found him in a lover' and suddenly everyone had a flower crown and a god complex. Lana Del Rey breathed 'we were born to die' and it felt like heartbreak had a soundtrack. Melanie Martinez had us romanticizing our trauma and crying in pastel, baby-doll fonts. Now imagine that energy, but in Arabic. Imagine posting the lyrics of 'Yumain O Leila' from Jadal, قلت نام وقوم تنساها ، او عد عيوبها تكرها، بس حتي العيوب بتحليها after a late-night argument with your highschool boyfriend. Arabic is already a poetic language, but when those lyrics hit just right, it's devastating in the best way. Heartbreak, nostalgia, identity crises, all already Tumblr, just waiting for the aesthetic treatment. If the Tumblr girls knew about Mashrou' Leila in 2014, their dashboards would've never recovered. What If It Was Still Ours? This piece started with a question, and a bunch of replies that said 'hey, I remember this too.' Maybe we didn't have a Tumblr-core Arab world in real time. But maybe we didn't need to build it. Maybe we already had it, in old Sakia concert flyers, in stolen lyrics in our Notes app, in blurry phone clips of someone covering an indie song in a bedroom somewhere. One Mashrou' Leila reblog at a time. One sad girl anthem. One grainy gif of Cairo at night. It's late. But it's here. And it's always been ours.
Perth Now
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
The 1975 wants fans to get involved with 'special' Glastonbury plans
The 1975 wants fans to submit "memories" to be featured in their Glastonbury headline set. The 'Love Me' hitmakers - made up of Matty Healy, Adam Hann, Ross MacDonald and George Daniel - are topping the bill at this year's Worthy Farm festival alongside Olivia Rodrigo and Neil Young, and they have something special planned. In an email sent out to fans on Tuesday (27.05.25), they said: "Join The 1975 in a special collaborative project for Glastonbury Festival. "We're inviting fans to share their favourite moments with The 1975 – whether it's footage from concerts, photos with your vinyl collection, or clips of you and your friends enjoying the music. 'Your memories could be featured in a collaborative video project debuting at Glastonbury.' Photos and videos can be submitted, while the page comes with a disclaimer for anyone getting involved. It reads: "You grant The 1975 the irrevocable right to use, reproduce, edit, publish, distribute, and publicly display the submitted media in any format or medium, now known or hereafter developed, including but not limited to promotional materials, broadcasts, websites, and social media channels. "You confirm that you are the rightful owner of the submitted media and have the authority to grant these rights. "If any individuals other than yourself are featured in the submission, you confirm that you have obtained their consent to be included and to grant the rights described above. 'No compensation or credit will be provided for the use of the submitted media, and The 1975 is under no obligation to use any submission." The Glastonbury show will be The 1975's only gig in 2025, as confirmed by their manager and Dirty Hit label boss Jamie Oborne. He told 'The Money Trench' podcast: "It's such a big gig, and it's the only show that we're playing this year. '[Matty Healy] thought doing it in isolation would be a really powerful thing. I obviously agreed with him, as I often do.'
Perth Now
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Glastonbury headliners The 1975 preparing sixth studio album
The 1975 are working on a follow-up to 2022's 'Being Funny In A Foreign Language'. Matty Healy and co only have one concert booked for 2025, headlining Glastonbury on June 27, which frees up their time to make their sixth studio album. The 'Love Me' group's manager, Dirty Hit label boss Jamie Oborne, told the 'The Money Trench' podcast of Glasto: 'It's such a big gig, and it's the only show that we're playing this year. '[Matty Healy] thought doing it in isolation would be a really powerful thing. I obviously agreed with him, as I often do.' On new music, he said: 'They're making a record at the moment. I don't know when it will come out, but they're making one. 'I think they've earned the right to take their time. 'The world's gonna be listening, so it needs to be right.' Oborne teased that the LP is already sounding "pretty extraordinary". In 2023, Matty revealed the band would embark on an 'indefinite hiatus' from live shows after completing their mammoth 'Still… At Their Very Best' tour in March 2204. Performing at the Golden 1 Center, in Sacramento, California, in September, he told the crowd: 'It's wonderful you're all here. 'After this tour, we will be going on an indefinite hiatus with shows, so it's wonderful to have you guys with us tonight. Thank you so much.' Matty's mum Denise Welch had admitted her son was 'absolutely exhausted' and 'ready for a break". The TV star told Britain's OK! magazine: 'Matty is absolutely shattered. He's on a world tour and as much as it's hard to go, 'Oh please feel sorry for my boy', people don't realise that it's gruelling to be the lead singer, the creator, the writer, the producer of a massive show on the scale that Matthew does. 'Then he gets on stage and gets in a plane and flies seven hours then flies 24 hours. 'It's a wonderful life, but he's absolutely exhausted and ready for a break.'
Daily Mail
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Denise Welch cuddles up to son Matty Healy's fiancée Gabbriette Bechtel in rare snap at couple's engagement party in California
Denise Welch cuddled up to her son Matty Healy 's fiancée Gabbriette Bechtel in a rare snap at the couple's engagement party on Monday. The Loose Women star, 66, took to her Instagram Stories and re-shared an image from the model's account of the pair looking as glamorous as ever. Denise looked incredible in a pink and red floral dress as she wrapped an arm around Gabrittee, 27, who stunned in a white midi dress. The bride-to-be simply captioned the adorable snap: 'MAMA.' During the night, Denise gave her fans a glimpse into the engagement party in California, as she shared snaps with Matty, 36, who looked dapper in a all black ensemble. Matty and Gabbriette have been linked since September 2023, when they were spotted packing on the PDA in New York City, shortly after his well-publicised split from Taylor Swift in June that year. The couple went on to announce their engagement in June 2024 after a whirlwind nine-month romance, with Gabbriette showing off her black diamond ring on Instagram. The engagement party comes after Gabbriette shared a passionate kiss with her fiancé at the GQ Men of the Year Awards in Sydney in December after he got into a heated row while defending her to Azealia Banks. The 1975 frontman attended the ceremony in support of his musician partner who was honoured with the International Sensation of the Year award. The influencer took to her Instagram at the time to share a slew of photos from the night, including several smitten snaps of her cosying up to Matty. One shot saw the singer wrap his arms around Gabbriette, while a short video showed him getting down on one knee in front of her, before rising up to share a smooch. Their PDA-filled night came mere hours after Matty engaged in yet another fiery back-and-forth with controversial rapper Azealia Banks. The drama unfolded when Azealia criticized pop superstar and fiancee of Matty's 1975 bandmate George Daniel, Charli XCX, taking to X to tweet: 'Charli used to be sooo pretty. Ugh.' Matty fired back with a scathing response that read: 'All the women you attack seem to be culturally relevant, attractive, divisive and NICE people. I think this makes you jealous cos you're so talented but everything else about you is a failure. Just rap bro.' He then came to the defence of his own fiancée, as he ranted: 'And on that point if I see one little s**t bag twitter barista say ONE thing about my Gabi, EVER, I will use my mental illness to full affect and I will dox and f**k you up. I'm so over pretending to have different standards online cos it's 'not real'. Well, a f***in slap is.' However, an unimpressed Azealia responded by insulting both Gabriette and Matty, as she savagely replied: 'The b***h look[s] like Frankenstein to me. You both look like you share needles. Lmao.' An enraged Matty then issued a wildly dramatic threat, tweeting: 'Talk to me like that I'm not gonna side eye you at an awards do I'll f******slap you so hard I'll get a Guiness world record for the highest a rat some bitch calls a wig has ever flown.' Recognizing the inappropriate nature of his outburst, the singer quickly backtracked, apologizing: 'Nah I can't be saying I'm gonna hit a girl that's insane I'm sorry. You just can't keep being so mean about my mates and my mrs it's really hurtful gets me well defensive.' After Azealia threatened to sue Matty over his threat of physical violence, he later took to The 1975's Reddit page to issue a grovelling apology saying he had 'let himself down' and that he felt 'gross' for having 'acted violent'. He wrote: 'What a bad day, I really let myself down. I have worked so hard to move past these impulsive self destructive and honestly quite volatile outbursts I have.' 'I'm constantly making trouble for myself for no reason, I come back to social media after depressive episodes (which is NOT an excuse) because I often become sober, so as an addict when I'm not using I pick up social media my new way of 'consuming' and changing how I feel.' 'I just feel dreadful about how I acted violent – I think Azealia and all obvious flawed people all deep down have a heart and I hate that I have contributed to her mental fragility. She's a human.' 'This cultural discourse has become so violent in general. I don't wanna act like I regret who I am or who have been. But Tbh at this point I feel gross even having said anything negative ever about anything – if it's contributed to this culture.' Aside from her modelling pursuits, Gabbriette shares a taste for the stage with Matty, having been the lead vocalist for punk rock band Nasty Cherry - a group hand-picked by British Charli XCX in 2018. In an interview with British Vogue, Gabby opened up about her relationship with Matty and even hinted about wanting children in the future, gushing: 'I love being in love,' after hanging up the phone to her fiancé. She added: 'When I thought that I was in love before it was just me being a person of service to somebody else.' Hinting at how she and Matty first connected, when answering what her advice to anyone still looking for love is, she replied: 'Answer all your DMs and listen to your closest friends.'
South China Morning Post
21-04-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Will red tape snarl Malaysia's concert hub plans to emulate Singapore?
Malaysia is offering concert organisers rebates for reeling in global stars with an eye on the tourism bounce that major acts have brought to neighbouring Singapore , but promoters warn that increasing red tape and censorship may ward off the biggest names. Advertisement From May 15, event organisers in Malaysia can claim rebates of up to 1.5 million ringgit (US$340,000) to help cover the cost of major concerts by international artists, in what the government says is recognition of the spin-offs for airlines, hotels and small vendors. But at the same time the government has also formalised the adoption of a ' kill switch ' – a mechanism imposed after an LGBTQ controversy at a music festival in 2023 – as part of foreign-artist performance guidelines for all concerts hosted in Malaysia. Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said the kill switch was the 'biggest element' in improvements on 'incident management', after the onstage kiss by male members of British band The 1975 at a music festival two years ago. Homosexuality is a criminal offence in Malaysia. Matty Healy of The 1975 performs at a music festival in the US in 2023. Photo: Invision/AP The foreign artist approval agency (Puspal) reportedly ordered the cancellation of at least three other concerts that same year.
