Glass Animals

Glass Animals have quickly risen up as one of the most buzz worthy bands of this year after the release of their debut album ZABA. The album has been used as a jump off point for the band to take their groovy downbeat electro-pop sound on tour all around the globe from the UK to the US and even down under in March last year for a short three show stop over.

Following the Australian shows the aurora of Glass Animals grew even larger and now they are set to return for a longer tour featuring performances at Falls Festival, Field Day and headline shows in both Sydney and Melbourne. “I didn’t expect anything from the last shows but they turned out really good. It’s a little weird travelling all the way around the world not knowing what to expect but when we arrived all of the shows were sold out so we had fun and danced like crazy,” says vocalist Dave Bayley.

During production of the album the band, in particular Dave, drew on his neuroscience background for lyrical inspiration. “I was doing psychiatric medicine at university so I was talking to lots of really interesting people with amazing stories about doing strange things and seeing the world in totally different way, so it was impossible to resist writing about that stuff.”

Prior to jumping into the studio to record the album the band focused on smaller releases to “experiment and find our way” so that when they finally had the opportunity to record they knew what they liked sonically which helped the album come together quiet quickly. This was in spite of it being as if they had been “thrown into a new playground full of new toys and a lot of time spent twiddling knobs and making awful noises.”

In regards to their live show, the band likes to be as flexible as possible with their sound so as to best cater to the atmosphere they encounter and bring new life to the songs live. “We don’t want it to be a perfect recreation of the record. If its a big festival with a party vibe we tend to speed it up, bring up the bass and kick drums and extend the groovy sections to create a dance party but if it’s chilled we do the opposite and play a more ambient set.”

“We’re really excited to be coming back firstly because the weather will be much nicer and also because these festival lineups are particularly good with a nice mix of artists. Plus the crowds in Australia are always pretty darn amazing.” (JA)

Jan 9, The Hi Fi, 122 Lang Road, Moore Park, $56.10+b.f, thehifi.com.au