DARKUS 2020: Glass Animals Showcase Edition

2020 Showcase Series

August 2020

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@darkusmagazine

2020 Showcase Series

Editor's Message Over the past few years I have had the pleasure of discovering a number of exceptional UK bands who have gone on to achieve great things, but if I had to name one who has stood out to me from the word go it would have to be Oxfordshire based band, Glass Animals.

Having first formed in 2010, the four friends have already given us a decade worth of great music, and while there may have been challenging moments along the way, this has not stopped the band doing what they love best – creating amazing music to put a smile on your face.

Having rapidly grown in popularity, especially with music fans here in the UK, it is such a joy to see how members Dave Bayley, Drew MacFarlane, Edmund Irwin-Singer & Joe Seaward have grown in confidence and strength but still retaining that passion, humbleness and energy that have had since day 1. It is therefore a great pleasure we invite you to join us for this special showcase edition as we pay tribute to the one and only, Glass Animals.

Thushara X x X

Editor in Chief: Editorial Assistant Thank You To

Thushara S. Chandrasiri Sophie Walker Dave Bayley Glass Animals

Front Cover Photography: Pooneh Ghana

Black Arts PR

Photo By Ollie Trenchard

IN CONVERSATION WITH

Nothing fills me with joy more than when a band you have loved for a good couple of years continue to push the barriers with their music, whether it be taking their song writing to new heights or using their music as a platform to explore their creative sides even more. So, when I think of the 4 guys from Glass Animals and their continued growth it just fills me with joy. Having already given us fans some pretty awesome music, this Summer the band announced that they would be returning with their brand-new album, Dreamland which was released on 7th August 2020.

As you can probably imagine this caused social media to go into a overdrive as the excitement levels had gone through the roof as fans were acquainting themselves with the band’s latest masterpiece. If that is not enough in only the first week of being released the Oxfordshire chaps found themselves in close showdown against Taylor Swift in the UK Official Album Chart, a testimony of just how powerful and brilliant Dreamlands is as an album.

With these being truly phenomenal times and a lot of catching up to do, we were therefore delighted to chat to a guy I have a lot of admiration and respect for, Glass Animals’ very own frontman, Dave Bayley to tell us more.

Article By Thushara

Answers By Dave Bayley (Lead Vocalist)

"I guess you just have to see the good side of everything. Like when you perform a sad song live, you just try to find the optimistic part of the song and you hang on to that."

How are you enjoying your post-lockdown summer so far?

Heyyy what’s up! I’m enjoying it a lot actually - been super busy getting the album ready to drop, so haven’t really left the studio…but I like being busy. Mainly sitting on my porch doing interviews and making weird interactive stuff on the internet and dropping stupid hidden nuggets onto our website.

It won’t be long until your new album Dreamland is released. What is going through your head right now as the date approaches?

ITS OUT NOW!!! Ahhhhh - so scary. Main thing is not knowing what to do when it’s out. Normally you just release the album, then tour for two years. All that touring is postponed for a year. I think I’m slowly getting some ideas together, but maybe I’ll take a holiday or something. Or get a dog. Or maybe I’ll get into some strange home-based hobby. Exotic hat making…. idk.

This record sees you an even more candid and personal approach on the songwriting side of things especially. How did you find being able to tackle such raw and sensitive emotions whilst still being able navigate out of it to a place of strength?

I guess you just have to see the good side of everything.

Like when you perform a sad song live, you just try to find the optimistic part of the song and you hang on to that. Hard sometimes, but ultimately yeah just trying to find some kind of positive thing that came from whatever the song is about. Then when you write about something there’s a bit of acceptance… Like, OK that happened… And everything is now ok…. So really everything is probably gonna be OK eventually Do you feel from working on the record the four of you have become even closer, because on many levels working on any project, yet alone one which has a connection to you all on a personal level, is no doubt going to strengthen your bond as friends?

They definitely learned a lot about me that they didn’t know before after they heard the lyrics… And that’s saying something as we’ve known each other for like 15 years now.

They knew most things. Yeah, I don’t have anything left to hide from them really. When someone has seen you totally naked, it does bring you closer!

Although live music has been put on hold this year, we were very excited to hear that you will be bringing some special live shows to the UK and Europe next May. Any locations you are looking most forward to visiting – either for the first time or because they have been a place of special happy memories in the past?

Yessssss, very excited to be back on tour in May 2021. I think all the shows will be totally euphoric - mainly because Joe, who had a bad accident and we didn’t think would be able to drum with us again, is BACK ON DRUMS. We played a handful of small shows and were just getting ready to do the bigger ones when the lockdown started and we pulled it all. Excited for him to get on the bigger stages. Especially Alexandra Palace - I’ve seen a lot of great shows there by a lot of my favourite artists. It will be so surreal walking out on that stage.

It’s always great when one of your favourite bands tickle the ears of us music fans with samples of a new record, and in the case of Glass Animals you have given us Heat Waves and more recently, It’s All Incredibly Loud – both which have some pretty powerful music videos too. What were those videos like to work on in terms of taking the concept of the song itself and giving it a visual snapshot?

I have started to really enjoy music videos. I didn’t really like them until we did the ‘Agnes’ one on the last record.

And then I saw how you can make something that gives a depth and a context to the song… Something that is like a visual metaphor for the words and the music. That was the idea behind the ‘Heat Waves’ video and the ‘…

Incredibly Loud’ video. ‘Heat Waves’ is about missing something and realising you’re vulnerable and that you can’t save everything, and that video is basically a reinterpretation of that sentiment but about live music.

Photo By Elliot Arndt

"I feel like we finally weren’t afraid to be ourselves and go personal on this one. I know that it sounds contradictory, but because of that I hope people can see themselves in these songs more than any before."

I’ll miss live music, but there was nothing anyone could do to save it. We just have to accept that it is over for a while. ‘It’s All So Incredibly Loud’ is about the silence after telling someone something that you know is going to destroy them and hurt them horribly. That moment feels like it lasts an age, and although its silent and quiet, it feels like an explosion.

The video is about the build-up before that and the eventual jumping into the unknown… And the volume and weight of that silence that seems to last forever as those words impact.

Based on how your recent singles been embraced by the fans, would you say that Dreamland is going to be one of those albums that creates a real sense of mystery, one which will keep folks on their toes?

I hope it sort of does both. There are a lot of layers to the words and references to other music, books, films, etc. A lot of other stuff to check out around the album - not just other people’s work, but also it references old songs of ours, stuff we’ve hidden in the internet….All sorts. I hope that on the surface people just enjoy the melodies and feel of the songs too in a surface way.

A question I often ask any musician is at what point they no longer see themselves as ‘emerging’ and the instead being fully in the territory of the ‘emerged’?

If I was to ask you chaps that question through the eyes of Glass Animals what would you say?

Ha ha - I don’t know really… In many ways I feel like we’re just getting started. Like when I sit down to start writing a project I quite often never know how to start.

In that way it feels like the beginning again every time, but I think it’s probably fair to say we’ve emerged at least a little bit…

We have at least learned to embrace the fact that we will never really know what we are doing, and we have learned to embrace and roll with the chaos.

As we pause to reflect on your growth over the years since the days of ZABA back in 2014 and to where we are today on album number 3, what makes you smile?

Oh my god, so much… It’s been such an incredible rollercoaster. so much has happened.

Really, we shouldn’t be alive right now. Just thinking about the time since we started this project - I can think of 100 moments we should have died. 100 moments where I laughed hysterically until I nearly peed. 100 moments where I was more scared than I’ve ever been in my life.

Every emotion. Thinking how we released that first album and it did NOTHING and we thought we were going back to our day jobs. Then touring in a little Toyota Camry with all our equipment on our laps all the way around America, holy crap...

We’ve gotten through that and have somehow made a career in this and have done it all with our like day 1 friends & team feels amazing. We’re very very very lucky to get to do this. That makes me smile every day.

On August 7th there will be someone picking up or streaming Dreamland, either as a long-running Glass Animals fan or possibly as someone who is fresh to the family thinking to themselves, “Ooooo, I can’t wait to check these guys out”. Either way - why is this new album the chapter of Glass Animals not to be missed?

It’s the most ‘us’ record so far. By a distance. I feel like we finally weren’t afraid to be ourselves and go personal on this one. I know that it sounds contradictory, but because of that I hope people can see themselves in these songs more than any before.

I realised that most of my favourite songs by other people are extremely personal ones. them being vulnerable and open in their music made me feel a bit less…like….alone I guess. That’s the goal, and hopefully it helps maybe like one person in this strange time.

Photo By Pooneh Ghana

Glass Animals Release Latest Album 'Dreamland' Writing as a Glass Animals fan, it is safe to say that Dreamland has been highly and long anticipated after the band were forced into hiatus in 2018 following drummer Joe Seaward’s near fatal biking accident, which left him needing intense rehabilitation and the band uncertain of their future.

Aestheticizing nostalgia for the millennial, Dreamland makes moves away from the rainforest rumble of Zaba and indie pop of How To Be a Human Being, indulging in a mixture of hip-hop and RnB reminiscent of the late 1990s and early 2000s, which are fused with the band’s famous psych-pop.

Uncertainty, arguably, led frontman and producer Dave Bayley to revolutionise Glass Animals’ approach to songwriting. Following Seaward’s accident, Bayley, unable to think about the future, was forced to think about his past. In this way, unlike its predecessors, Zaba (2014) and How To Be a Human Being (2016) (where the latter centres entirely on eleven character studies), Dreamland is shamelessly autobiographical. It serves as a memoir which narrates the story of Bayley’s life from early childhood to the present day, drawing upon notable memories from his journey into adulthood, including his first memories as a child growing up in Texas.

Throwbacks are utilised within Bayley’s lyrics too, referring to some favourite childhood characters, including Mr. Miyagi, Space Ghost and Scooby Doo.

Article By Sophie

Coming at a time where the ‘90s aesthetic is fashionable, the nostalgia fest doesn’t end at the album’s musical content but has quite literally been pumped throughout the album’s branding and merchandise.

Referring back to ‘90s tech, the album’s promotion has treated fans to a Windows ’98 inspired website, complemented by the release of Dreamland cassettes, VHS tapes and floppy discs.

"Dreamland is everything that we fans wanted and then some. Its journey from Tokyo Drifting to album release has been nothing short of exciting; it has triumphed in eliciting nostalgia in its creative production and promotion, keeping us all on our toes."

Opening with the title track ‘Dreamland’, Bayley transports us into, well you’ve got it, a dream land. A hazy melody whisks us away into a daydream featuring our childhood memories as Bayley sings “That first friend you had, that worst thing you said / That perfect moment, that last tear you shed”. The track serves as the perfect introduction to the album, laying out the foundations for topics that the album explores from school shootings to domestic abuse.

Written about the deafening silence after you’ve said something that will really hurt someone (“I’m breakin’ down / Whispers would deafen me now / You don’t make a sound / Heartbreak was never so loud”), and domestic abuse suffered by a friend’s mother growing up (“I see the bruise, I see the truth / I see what he’s been doin’ to you”), both tracks are more sombre and reflect a strong sense of helplessness that is evocative for the listener.

‘Dreamland’ explodes into ‘Tangerine’, which is the first unheard song from the album and a personal favourite.

Although written about a faltering relationship, lyrics “I’m beggin’ hands, knees please / Tangerine, come on back to me” sung in quick succession are infectious. The reception to Tangerine from fans has been one of excitement, making Tangerine a feel good summer tune that no doubt will be sang back to the band by fans for tours to come.

A series of ‘home movies’ interject throughout the course of the album which hit home on the nostalgia front with clips of a young Dave Bayley excited about a toy rocket and others of his mother speaking to him as a child.

Though only short excerpts, the home movies, in my opinion, solidify the album as a piece of art. By bringing together memories from childhood to the present day in lyric form, ‘90s influences and references in the album’s musical content and promotion, and audio snippets from his early years, Bayley cements Dreamland’s authenticity as a memoir of his life.

‘Space Ghost Coast To Coast’ marks the first song on the album to have a darker meaning, written about a childhood best friend of Bayley’s whom he lost touch with after having moved to the UK – who later attempted a school shooting and ended up in prison for it.

Opening with lyrics “Said to you, “Why did you do it?” / Touch the glass, I feel you through it”, Bayley explores what visiting his former friend in prison would be like.

The single ‘Tokyo Drifting’ featuring Denzel Curry became immensely popular following its release last November for its drastic change in sound and confidence from “Wavey Davey”, Bayley’s more extroverted semifictional alter ego.

The trap-inspired track was the first sound of Dreamland that we heard from the band, and nine months on it still makes a massive statement just short of midway through the album with Curry’s egotistically volatile (yet addictive) verse.

Other energetic singles from the album include ‘Your Love (Déjà Vu)’ and ‘Heat Waves’, which slot into place perfectly by blending catchy flute riffs and drumbeats with the album’s RnB production. Although Dreamland addresses key emotional moments from Bayley’s life in an effervescent nature, we’re introduced to a more sincere tone with “It’s All So Incredibly Loud” and “Domestic Bliss”.

Closing with Helium, the diary-esque album comes to a fitting end as it reflects upon Bayley’s eventual content in not knowing all of the answers for things that have happened within his life. The second half of the track is almost a hidden song within itself as it loops back to the Dreamland chords heard at the start of the album, which makes you feel like you’ve woken up from the daydream you entered as the album began.

Dreamland is everything that we fans wanted and then some. Its journey from Tokyo Drifting to album release has been nothing short of exciting; it has triumphed in eliciting nostalgia in its creative production and promotion, keeping us all on our toes.

I don’t think that Glass Animals could’ve ever anticipated a global pandemic but the album somehow fits perfectly with the circumstances; many young people have spent summer 2020 at home with parents experiencing an abundance of time and reminiscing their own childhoods. It was written during a time of uncertainty and disruption, and released during one. Dave Bayley is a genius.

The Glass Animals return was more than worth the wait and I for sure can’t wait to hear it live in May 2021.

Photo By Elliot Arndt

Photo By Elliot Arndt

Photo By Elliot Arndt

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@glassanimals

@glassanimals