Dirty Hit Limited are the private company behind Dirty Hit, the record label with whom The 1975 have released their entire discography. Healy was appointed director in December 2018 and was active in the role until his termination in April 2023.

Pitchfork were informed that the move was “administrative in nature” though neither The 1975 nor Dirty Hit Limited have commented on the change.

Fans are speculating over the reasoning behind Matty’s termination however, linking his controversial behaviour on social media and on tour to the change in role, though this has not been confirmed by either party involved.

One fan suggested Matty “pretends it’s a choice” following his social media accounts being banned in addition to no longer being a company director, but is ultimately scathing towards his recent actions.

imagine matty’s twitter was actually banned and now his insta is too and he was fired as dirty hit director but he pretends it’s a choice and all “new era of not being a fucking asshole”

— eva (@ratthealy) April 10, 2023

Another fan joked that this is simply due to tax reasons, owed to the timing of Matty’s termination.  

Matty ‘resigning’ from dirty hit at the end of the tax year? He’s just tryna commit tax evasion guys — niche internet micro celebrity land_sam02 (@land_sam02) April 6, 2023

The link between The 1975 and Dirty Hit runs deep, leaving fans questioning what this means for the band moving forwards. Matty has collaborated with multiple artists also signed to Dirty Hit, including No Rome, Beabadoobee and the Japanese House, in essence making Matty the face of the label.

Matty literally is Dirty Hit so like…I’m intrigued

— Emily (@Emily__483) April 6, 2023

Healy is no stranger to being at the centre of controversial news, recently facing backlash for his comments on women as a guest on The Adam Friedland Show, in addition to judging Harry Styles for his “queerbaiting” behaviour and mocking Scottish English.

This followed a string of questionable behaviour during The 1975’s At Their Very Best tour, which saw Matty doing everything from eating raw meat on stage to pulling fans up on stage to kiss them.

so matty healy just french kissed me pic.twitter.com/2v06jUZPBS — giulia (@dntyoumind) January 8, 2023

Matty’s behaviour has been questioned by fans and news outlets alike, ultimately leaving them questioning whether this truly is performance art or whether this show of personality is reason enough for his directorship to be terminated in the interest of PR.

The 1975 are set to play multiple festivals across the UK, with tickets available to purchase here.

07/06/2023 – St. Anne’s Park – Dublin

11/06/2023 – Parklife Festival – Manchester

02/07/2023 – Finsbury Park – London

09/07/2023 – TRNSMT Festival – Glasgow

Stream The 1975’s latest album, Being Funny In a Foreign Language, here.

Just announced: New Europe shows this Fall! Presale starts tomorrow at 10am local. PW: KOS2022 https://t.co/lLiWcdKpYF pic.twitter.com/PcPqp55IB3

— Future Islands (@futureislands) March 21, 2022

Their first UK tour since 2018, it’s on the back of their album As Long as You Are, which was released in October 2020. The band isn’t used to such a long time being unable to tour, what with their prolific live reputation from before the pandemic. Having opened for the likes of Morrissey and Grace Jones, and playing at numerous worldwide festivals like Coachella and Øyafestivalen, they’d already passed 1,000 live performances within ten years of playing together.

Fans should have a lot to look forward to, what with the serious approach they take towards the performing arts. Having formed from the art school ethos that was Art Lord & the Self-Portraits, band frontman Sam Herring has been quoted as saying “I fell in love with performance art when I was 17 … you can stand on the street and perform for 30 minutes with some weird thing you came up with off the top of your head … people are going to walk by and you’re going to get a reaction …. And that’s an exciting thing, to look into people’s eyes. There’s no expectation …. It can grab people and that’s a cool thing.”

His dedication to the craft can be seen by all the torn ligaments and throat problems Herring’s reportedly had over the years, but it doesn’t change the fact fans are probably in for a good show with a guy who knows how to give it his all.

In other news, the band are reportedly working on their seventh studio album, although it’s been a while in the making, having announced work on it back in January 2021. And they were also seen on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert last February, playing their new song “King of Sweden“. You can see this performance below, as well as their upcoming UK and Ireland tour dates.

Future Islands UK and Ireland Tour Dates

23/03/2022 – Academy – Manchester
25/03 – Alexandra Palace – London
27/03 – Ulster Hall – Belfast
28/03 – Vicar Street – Dublin
31/03 –  Northumbria SU Institute – Newcastle
01/04 – Usher Hall – Edinburgh
02/04 – O2 Academy – Glasgow
10/11 – O2 Academy – Leeds
11/11 –  Cardiff University Great Hall – Cardiff
12/11 – Mountford Hall – Liverpool
14/11 – O2 Academy – Birmingham
16/11 – Rock City – Nottingham
17/11 –  O2 Guildhall – Southampton
18/11 –  Brighton Centre – Brighton
19/11 – Exeter University (Great Hall) – Exeter