Glass Animals are a British

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band formed in

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in 2010. The band's line-up consists of Dave Bayley (vocals, guitar, keyboards, drums, songwriting), Drew MacFarlane (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Edmund Irwin-Singer (bass, keyboards, backing vocals), and Joe Seaward (drums). Their first album, '' Zaba'' (2014), spawned the single " Gooey", which was eventually

certified platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

in the U.S. Their second full album, '' How to Be a Human Being'', received positive reviews and won in two categories at the 2018 MPG Awards for UK Album of the Year and Self Producing Artist of the Year, as well as a spot on the

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shortlist. The third, '' Dreamland'', peaked at number two on the

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and number seven on the US ''Billboard'' 200. The band is best known for their biggest hit single "

Heat Waves "Heat Waves" is a song by British indie rock band Glass Animals released as a single from their third studio album ''Dreamland (Glass Animals album), Dreamland'' on 29 June 2020. A sleeper hit, it is the band's signature song and biggest hit sing ...

", which went viral on

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. It reached number one in Australia in February 2021 and was voted number one on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2020. The song surpassed two billion streams on Spotify by September 2022, and eventually reached number one on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number five on the UK Singles Chart. At the 2022 Brit Awards, the band were nominated for two Brit Awards ( Best British Alternative/Rock Act and "Heat Waves" for Best British Single). They received their first

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

nomination in the

Best New Artist The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since the 2nd Annual Grammy Awards in 1960 (except in 1967) "for a new artist who releases, during the Eligibility Year, the first recording which establishes the public identity of that ar ...

category at the 2022 Grammy Awards.

History

2010–2015: Formation, ''Zaba'', and various EPs

All four members of the band met at St Edward's School in

. The band's lead singer and songwriter Dave Bayley, who moved to the U.S. at a young age due to his father's job, grew up in

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

before returning to England at the age of 13. He attended St Edward's on a music scholarship and was introduced to Drew MacFarlane, who would become the band's guitarist and backing vocalist; the two bonded over the fact that they were both Britons who had spent their childhoods in the U.S. MacFarlane then introduced Bayley to Edmund Irwin-Singer, the band's bassist, and Joe Seaward, its drummer. They began playing together as a group in 2010. On 28 May 2012, the band released their debut EP ''Leaflings'', which included the single "Cocoa Hooves". The EP was released on

independent label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represente ...

Kaya Kaya Records, a subsidiary and imprint of

XL Recordings XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been run and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group. It releases an average of six albums a year. T ...

(part of the

Beggars Group Beggars Group is a British record company, founded by Martin Mills, that owns or holds stakes in various record labels, including 4AD, Rough Trade Records, Matador Records, XL Recordings, and Young (record label), Young. History The company had i ...

of labels). In 2013, the band released ''Black Mambo / Exxus EP'' in Europe, and ''Glass Animals EP'' in the US. The ''Glass Animals'' EP also saw the band collaborating with Jean Deaux, a soulful hip-hop teenager from Chicago, on a song titled "Woozy". In 2014, the band made their first tour of the U.S. and performed at the

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

festival in

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. They released three more singles: " Gooey", "Pools", and "Hazey", along with a collaboration with Argentine singer-songwriter and producer Tei Shi. All five singles were included on the band's debut album, '' Zaba'', which was released on 6 June 2014. The band performed the single "Gooey" on ''

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'' on 9 October 2014 and again on ''

Late Show with David Letterman ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...

'' on 24 February 2015, and toured extensively after ''Zaba'', visiting both hemispheres and playing over 130 shows in 2015 alone. Their October 2015 US tour included two sold-out shows at The Wiltern in LA and sold-out shows across America including T5 in NYC, The Riverside in Milwaukee, and the

Midland Theatre The Midland Theatre is a 3,000-seat theater located in the Power & Light District of Kansas City, Missouri, United States. The National Collegiate Athletic Association under Walter Byers had its headquarters in the building from the 1950s unti ...

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. A collaboration with American rapper Joey Bada$$, titled "Lose Control", was released on 6 October 2015.

2016–2019: ''How to Be a Human Being''

On 16 May 2016, the band released the lead single, "Life Itself", from their second album '' How to Be a Human Being''. "Life Itself" peaked at number 14 on ''Billboard''s Alternative Songs chart and spent 26 weeks on Sirius XM's Alt-18 chart, peaking at number one. A music video for the song was released on 7 June 2016. The band also created a website based on the character from "Life Itself". On 25 July, a second single from the album, "Youth", was released along with its music video. This song was also used as a soundtrack in the popular football video game by

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they imitated real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) ...

, '' FIFA 17''. Four days before the release of the album, on 22 August, the band released a third single, "Season 2 Episode 3", about a girl who "spends her entire time watching TV, lounging around, not doing anything, being high, eating mayonnaise from a jar". The full album ''How to Be a Human Being'' was released on 26 August 2016 by Wolf Tone and

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in Europe, and

Harvest Records Harvest Records is a British-American record label belonging to Capitol Music Group, originally created by EMI in 1969. History Harvest Records was created by EMI in 1969 to market progressive rock music, and to compete with Philips' Vertigo ...

in the United States. It was inspired by stories of strangers that Bayley met on tour, with each song telling a different story from a different perspective. In July 2018, drummer Joe Seaward was seriously injured when he was hit by a

lorry A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructio ...

while cycling in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. Seaward's accident and recovery resulted in the band cancelling their remaining tour dates for rest of the year.

2019–2024: ''Dreamland''

After touring for ''How to Be a Human Being'', the band released two singles; "Tokyo Drifting", a duet with

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, on 14 November 2019, and "Your Love (Déjà Vu)" on 19 February 2020. On 1 May 2020, the band released a single named "Dreamland", and announced an album of the same name to be released on 10 July 2020. The beginnings of Dreamland originated after drummer Joe Seaward's bike accident in Dublin. While spending long hours by Seaward's side in the hospital as he recovered, Bayley started "writing down memories and searching for more memories." Those memories eventually evolved into the nostalgic and very personal ''Dreamland'' album full of references to Bayley's childhood and other points in his life. On 28 June, the band announced that the album had been delayed, to "keep focus on the

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...

movement and the discussions taking place around racism and

police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or Public order policing, a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, b ...

around the world." In the lead-up to ''Dreamland'', Glass Animals launched an open-source website where fans could access and download song samples, artwork, and other content related to the album. ''Dreamland'' was released on 7 August 2020 via Polydor Records. In an interview with ''Atwood Magazine'', Bayley explained: "I guess the goal with this record was to make something that was incredibly honest and incredibly us." The album entered the

at number two. "

" was included on the '' FIFA 21'' soundtrack. On 23 January 2021, "Heat Waves" placed first on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2020 in Australia, with "Tangerine" placing at 18th and "Your Love (Déjà Vu)" at 51st. The following month, "Heat Waves" reached number one on the

ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

. In April 2021, "Tokyo Drifting" was featured in a television commercial released by

Peloton In a road Cycle sport, bicycle race, the peloton (, originally meaning ) is the main group or pack of riders. Riders in a group save energy by riding close (drafting (racing), drafting or slipstreaming) to (particularly behind) other riders. The ...

as part of their Champions Collection campaign. A bonus track and single, "I Don’t Wanna Talk (I Just Wanna Dance)", was included on the '' FIFA 22'' soundtrack. After a record-breaking 59-week climb on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, "Heat Waves" topped the chart for the week ending 12 March 2022.

2024–present: ''I Love You So F***ing Much''

In February 2024, posters began to appear in major cities that read "I love you so f***ing much". Around this same time, the Glass Animals website changed from the ''Dreamland'' computer to a dark screen with a dolphin next to a search bar where you could ask questions. Next, the account "hal9000000" began posting snippets of the new single on SoundCloud, including "Fake Blood" and "3am". Finally, on 21 March, Glass Animals uploaded a video titled "Incoming" with the same single from the "hal9000000" snippets. On 28 March 2024, the band announced their single "Creatures in Heaven". It was released on 3 April 2024, along with the album title and release date. On 4 April, the "Tour of Earth 2024" was announced, with 42 shows across North America and Europe, with further shows being announced in Australia and New Zealand. In May, Glass Animals began teasing a second song from the album, "A Tear In Space (Airlock)". The intro was first teased at a popup show at Pappy & Harriet’s in Pioneertown CA on April 11, 2024, and played in full during the encore at Liberty Hall, Sydney, on May 9. The song and accompanying music video were released on June 7th. '' I Love You So F***ing Much'' was released on 19 July 2024, to mixed reviews from critics.

Musical style

Glass Animals' musical style has been described as

psychedelic pop Psychedelic pop (or acid pop) is a genre of pop music that contains musical characteristics associated with psychedelic music. Developing in the mid-to-late 1960s, elements included " trippy" features such as fuzz guitars, tape manipulation, ...

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

electronic rock Electronic rock (also known as electro rock and synth rock) is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music, featuring instruments typically found within both genres. It originates from the late 1960s when rock b ...

, and

alternative pop Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

Band members

*Dave Bayley – lead vocals, guitar, keyboards, drums, tambourine, songwriting *Drew MacFarlane – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals *Edmund Irwin-Singer – bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals *Joe Seaward – drums

Discography

Studio albums

Remix albums

Extended plays

Singles

Promotional singles

Other charted and certified songs

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

Official home page

Facebook page

Billboard: Glass Animals Choose Music Over Med School

Pitch: Glass Animals' Frontman Dave Bayley Talks ''Disney Princess'', 2015 Goals Ahead of Saturday's Sold-out Midlands Show
{{Authority control 2012 establishments in England Caroline Records artists Harvest Records artists British indie rock groups Musical groups from Oxford Musical groups established in 2012 Polydor Records artists Republic Records artists Trip hop groups