The 1975 are once again absolutely everywhere following their latest album, Being Funny in a Foreign Language and, as a result, so is the Matty Healy autotune meme.
With the band currently on a massive world tour entitled, ‘At Their Very Best’, the Wilmslow lads have been taking the internet by storm. Well, to be more accurate, their ever-eccentric frontman has.
Anyone who has watched a 1975 live performance, interview or music video in the last decade or so knows that Healy has always been a character — it’s part of the group’s overall charm — and he’s been by no means too shy to lean into the persona further in recent months.
We don’t imagine you’ve made it onto the internet recently without seeing at least one Matty Healy autotune clip but there are now so many that people are putting together compilations. Enjoy.
From joking about people’s sub-par seats in various digitised octaves and reacting to the type of cigarettes people are throwing on stage, to simply calling himself hot, the Matt Healy autotuned pre-amble before ‘TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME’ has become a genuine highlight for fans attending the show.
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As you can see, on multiple occasions during a breakdown in the live version of ‘I Like America & America Likes Me’, he also manages to turn alerting members of the crowd to other fans falling down into a less serious interjection.
Undoubtedly the most iconic and viral 1975 autotune of all is the now infamous “don’t like menthols” moment, which has gone on to become an almost inescapable TikTok sound at this point.
Not only have people quickly fallen in love with this random little improvisation but, somewhat annoyingly, it is such an earworm that you’re rendered powerless to repeat it for hours on end.
Seriously, they can’t get enough — not that they have any say in the matter.
In fact, people are so obsessed with these clips at the minute that they have now started a subsequent trend where people rank their favourite Matty Healy autotune memes from best to worst.
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Don’t agree with this blokes order but we’re all entitled to our opinion:
Whether it’s being mentioned on BBC Radio One by Greg James or being officially branded the one of the greatest 1975 lyrics of all time,
The meme has become so ubiquitous that Healy has even been acknowledging in his set, with fans losing their minds every time they hear “don’t like menthols” in real life.
The 1975 have not only been one of the biggest bands to come out of Manchester—well, Cheshire, really (his Matty’s words not ours)—but they are currently one of the biggest things on the planet and have been for some time, so it’s not much of a surprise that these daft little moments took off like they did.
Most importantly, however, coverage of the tour seems to absolute everywhere; you only have to watch for yourself to see how much fans are loving the performances and we can’t for them to rock up at the Apollo in January.
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We’ll leave you to sort your own Matty Healy autotune ranking and, whilst you’re here, seeing the man himself walking around Manchester and waxing lyrical about the city isn’t a bad watch either:
Manchester’s popular board game festival returns this month with hundreds of games to play
Emily Sergeant
Manchester’s popular board came festival is set to return later this month, with hundreds of games free to play.
Manchester Board Game Festival is set to kick off 2026 in style, returning for the first festival of the year with a full weekend of board games, role-playing games, indie traders, and community-led fun in the heart of the city.
The festival features a huge board game library, giving fans access to hundreds of games to try out across the weekend – with ‘Library Bees’ on-hand to help people find games, learn the rules, or jump into sessions with other players.
There’ll also be bookable sessions, like RPGs and Blood on The Clocktower, and seminars to take part in over the three-day event.
Manchester’s popular board game festival returns this month with hundreds of games to play / Credit: MBGF (via Facebook)
As well as gaming, visitors can browse the festival’s popular Geek Fayre too, open on the Saturday and Sunday of the event, which showcases indie traders, artists, and tabletop creators from across the UK. From games and accessories, to artwork and geeky gifts, it’s a chance to support small businesses all while discovering something new.
Running from Friday 27 February through to Sunday 1 March, this opening weekend festival marks the start of five events planned throughout 2026.
Events are designed to bring together players of all experience levels for three days of tabletop gaming and social play.
“There’s something really special about the first festival of the year,” commented festival organiser, James Oxley.
“People are excited, they’re ready to play, and there’s a real buzz in the room. Manchester Board Game Festival has always been about bringing people together through games, and we can’t wait to see everyone back in the halls enjoying themselves.
“Whether attendees come for a single afternoon or the full weekend, the focus is on playing at your own pace, meeting new people, and enjoying games in a relaxed and friendly setting.”
Further festivals will follow throughout 2026, including themed Halloween and Christmas editions later in the year, so keep your eyes peeled, but until then, February’s event marks the first chance for players to roll some dice, discover new favourites, and start the year with a table full of games.
Manchester Board Game Festival takes place from Friday 27 February through to Sunday 1 March at Sachas Hotel in the Northern Quarter, with tickets starting from just £13.
Trailer released for new romcom Finding Emily set and filmed all across Manchester
Emily Sergeant
The first trailer for a new romcom that’s set and filmed all across Manchester has been released.
The film, titled Finding Emily, tells the story of a lovesick musician, played by Spike Fearn, who meets his dream girl on a night out, but ends up with the wrong phone number, and so teams up with a driven psychology student, played by Angourie Rice, in a bid to find her.
Together, the unlikely duo spark a hilarious campus-wide frenzy that tests their own hearts and ambitions along the way.
The film – which is directed by Alicia MacDonald, and based on a screenplay written by Rachel Hirons – is produced by Working Title Films, is set in the fictional Manchester City University, and is due to be distributed by Focus Features and Universal Pictures across the UK and internationally this spring.
The talented ensemble cast groups together big names like Minnie Driver with rising stars like Ella Maisy Purvis, Yali Topal Margalith, and Kat Ronney, as well as other established actors including Timothy Innes and Nadia Parkes.
Filming took place in Manchester between August and September 2024.
The two and a half-minute trailer has been shared with the world today, and when we say it’s a Manc film, we mean it… we quite literally lost count of how many of our city’s famous locations can be spotted in just the trailer alone.
The trailer has been released for new romcom Finding Emily set and filmed in Manchester / Credit: Universal Pictures & Focus Features (via YouTube)
There’s everything from Manchester Central Library and Piccadilly Records, to Canal Street and the Gay Village, the Northern Quarter, the Crown & Kettle pub in Ancoats, and even the Emmeline Pankhurst statue in St Peter’s Square featured for all to see, alongside what’ll, presumably, be dozens of other famous locations.
Oh, and not to mention, if you keep your eyes peeled when watching the trailer, you can even see a small clip of Stockport band Blossoms playing a gig in there too.