Dave Bayley, lead singer of Glass Animals, just lately walked down Beck Road in East London, a spot full of recollections. It was there, in the course of the peak of the pandemic, that Bayley filmed the music video for the band’s hit track “Heat Waves.”
Neighbors in lockdown participated by filming from their home windows, serving to to create a video that now boasts over 720 million views on YouTube and greater than 3 billion streams on Spotify.
“It’s a sweet little street,” Bayley mentioned.
The success of “Heat Waves” catapulted Glass Animals—Bayley, Joe Seaward, Edmund Irwin-Singer and Drew MacFarlane—into mainstream success.
“It was bonkers,” mentioned Bayley. “You’re kind of clinging to the bottom of the rocket and it’s taken you right up into space.”
Fame introduced awards, alternatives and a GRAMMY nomination, however Bayley mentioned he struggled with success.
“I think I was trying to do so much that I stopped doing a lot of the things that grounded me,” he mentioned. “I had a big existential crisis.”
Last 12 months, Bayley secluded himself in a hilltop Airbnb in Los Angeles. He started to put in writing extensively, letting inspiration take maintain.
“I started kind of writing my way out of this hole,” Bayley mentioned.
He described it as “a vomit of information and words and melodies and chords.”
From this, a brand new album about love and human connection emerged, set towards an area theme. The new album, “I Love You So F***ing Much,” is out now.
In his London studio, Bayley assembled a wall of synthesizers for the brand new document. He aimed to create a sound just like a ’70s area film.
In a go to to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, Bayley’s bandmates mentioned there have been some nerves about the way to observe up the success of “Heat Waves.”
But as soon as Bayley confirmed the remaining of the group his galactic songs, Seaward mentioned that concern vanished.
“How do you follow something like that? But that question was completely out the window as soon as we started,” mentioned Seaward.
Glass Animals is about to embark on a large 44-date world tour referred to as Human Music Group Sensations Glass Animals: TOUR OF EARTH. Starting in August within the U.S., the tour will take the band throughout North America, Europe, the UK, and Australia. They might be headlining the largest venues of their profession, together with iconic areas like Madison Square Garden in New York and The O2 in London.
Bayley mentioned the brand new album is deeply private, which is one thing he beforehand struggled to crack with a cosmic-themed album.
“Every time I tried to do a space album, it never felt human,” Bayley mentioned. “It felt cold.”
On the brand new Glass Animals album, Bayley discovered a approach to carry humanity, connection, love, and heartbreak right into a intergalactic setting. Though he lastly received his space-themed document, Bayley mentioned the vulnerability of it, particularly within the shadow of “Heat Waves,” brings some anxiousness.
“It’s like, parts of it are quite scary to me,” he mentioned. “It’s like walking out naked with all your secrets written on your body, on your skin.”
The willingness to get private paid off. Seaward mentioned from the second he heard the songs for the primary time, he might see clearly what was in retailer for Glass Animals’ subsequent chapter.
“It’s kind of like Christmas Eve when Dave comes in and plays us songs. It’s this moment where you’re like … the next two or three years of my life is sort of unfolding before my eyes,” Seaward mentioned. “Luckily, so far they’ve always been incredibly exciting. But you kind of get this feeling like, wow.”
