Musically, "Love Me" is a
funk and
electropop song. It has a length of three minutes and 42 seconds (3:42). According to
sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by
Hal Leonard Music Publishing, "Love Me" is set in the
time signature of common time with a moderate
tempo of 98 beats per minute. The track is composed in the
key of
F major, with Healy's vocals
ranging between the notes of
F3 and
B♭4. It follows a
chord progression of F7–E7–F7. The production contains an intricate mesh of guitars and
synthesisers, chunky 1980s
riffs, "huge" shivering
hooks, thin and bright
rhythm guitars panning between speakers, wibbly synth breaks, a synth solo, cowbells, Hann's guitar solo occurs at 2:26, using reamped tones, tricks and exotic effects. Additionally, the song contains elements of
art pop,
dance-pop,
funk rock and
power pop. Lyrically, "Love Me" serves to support the 1975's denial of their rock stardom and is both a celebration and an admonishment of narcissism, ego and being famous. In the first verse, Healy sings: "I'm just with my friends online and there's things we'd like to change". "Love Me" is also an admission of wrongdoing, with the lyrics serving as an apology to the band itself for losing sight of what is most important to them—the music, singing in the pre-chorus: "We've just come to represent a decline in the standards of what we accept!" In the chorus, he sings: "And love me yeah/ If that's what you wanna do". Healy's vocals in the song are approached with a new, experimental methodology, singing from the highest peak of his range to the lowest point. Unlike the 1975's previous songs, the singer eschews a
crooning style and adopts "jumping"
melodies and musical articulations such as
staccato to give the track an emotional depth.
Kitty Empire of
The Guardian said "Love Me" resembles
Duran Duran's
Notorious (1986).
Rolling Stone writer Jon Dolan said the song "funkily" recalls
Nile Rodgers' production work with Duran Duran. Pryor Stroud of
PopMatters called the track a "post-
Random Access Memories update of Duran Duran's chrome-funk work with Nile Rodgers". Collin Brennan of
Consequence of Sound compared the song's guitar
riff to
David Bowie's "
Fame" (1975) and the chorus to
the Isley Brothers' "
It's Your Thing" (1969), writing its plagiarism of the two songs feels "self-conscious and self-effacing". Laura Snapes of
Pitchfork said the song splices Bowie's "Fame" and "
Fashion" (1980). Kika Chatterjee of
Alternative Press called the track "blatantly Bowie-esque, perfectly at home on a
disco dance floor". == Critical reception ==