The 1975’s Matty Healy appears to have addressed Taylor Swift in a new interview, saying he would “be lying” if he were to “made a record about my casual romantic liaisons”.
The connection between the two comes after they were widely speculated to have dated for a short period in 2023. While the rumoured relationship didn’t last long, fans were convinced that Swift’s latest album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ was written, in part, about The 1975 frontman.
Now, while Swift has never said that the lyrics make reference to Healy, and the indie singer has remained relatively tight-lipped about the rumours, he has appeared to address the popstar in a new interview.
Making an appearance on the Doomscroll podcast, Healy made it clear that he has no intentions of writing any music inspired by short-term relationships.
While acknowledging that he “used to write about relationships a lot more” in the past, he said he isn’t a fan of artists who are more focused on their “lore” than their art.
Seemingly making a nod to Swift, he said: “Last year I became a way more well-known public figure for loads of different reasons. The only reason that I was interested in is what I was doing. I think that a lot of artists, they become very interested in their lore, or they become interested in the things that have happened outside of their art that people know about and they want to address that, and fair enough.”
He continued: “Honestly, I would kind of just be lying if I made a record about, I don’t know, all the stuff that was said about me or my casual romantic liaisons — or whatever it may be that I’ve kind of become known for just because I was famous.
“That’s an obvious thing to draw from, and I’m just not interested in [it]. The idea of making a record about something that personally happened to me, that by the time I put it out is gonna be, like, two years old… I see people doing that as well, and it’s not interesting.”
According to fans, the title track of ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ saw Swift reference Healy, with lyrics like: “You smokеd then ate seven bars of chocolate / We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist”.
Fans pointed out how Healy is a notorious smoker, often smoking on stage while performing, while “chocolate” could be a reference to The 1975’s song of the same name. Elsewhere on the title track, Swift seems to namedrop Lucy Dacus – with whom Healy used to be close friends.
Other fans speculated that ‘The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived’ was about Swift and Healy’s relationship. “Was any of it true? / Gazing at me starry-eyed / In your Jehovah’s Witness suit,” Swift sings. This seems to nod to Healy’s onstage outfit, in which he typically wears a suit that has been historically donned by Jehovah’s Witnesses.
However, the entire album isn’t targeted at Healy, fans have pointed out. The track ‘So Long, London’ allegedly references Joe Alwyn, who lived in London – where Swift spent a good amount of time during their six-year relationship. Swift sings on the track: “I left all I knew / You left me at the house by the Hеath“. “By the Heath” may refer to the park Hampstead Heath.
Swift has also referred to Alwyn as “London”, namely in the track “London Boy” on her ‘Lover’ album.
Back in June, it was reported that Healy was left “blindsided” by the album, and a source claimed he found it “hilarious” because they were “never serious”.
Before then, it was reported that Healy was “uncomfortable” with the attention from the album but was “relieved” it wasn’t worse. He was also approached by paparazzi in Los Angeles and asked how he felt about his “Taylor diss track”. While it’s unclear which exact song the paparazzo was referring to, the ‘About You’ singer replied: “My diss track? Oh! I haven’t really listened to that much of it, but I’m sure it’s good.”
Denise Welch, Healy’s mother, also shared a response after being asked about the album. Welch – who has previously said that she is seen as “the Virgin Mary” among The 1975‘s fanbase – has shared her thoughts after being asked about the album during an episode of Loose Women.
Healy did benefit from the album in a way, however, as streams of The 1975’s music increased by 14 per cent following the release of ‘The Tortured Poets Department’.
Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ is out now. The album scored a three-star review from NME upon its release, with Laura Molloy writing: “The pitfalls that mire her 11th studio album are all the more disappointing — she’s proven time and time again she can do better. To a Melbourne audience of her Eras Tour, Swift said that ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ came from a “need” to write. It’s just that maybe we didn’t need to hear it.”
Since their split, Swift has been dating NFL star Travis Kelce, and Healy has gotten engaged to model Gabbriette Bechtel.
