As the final notes of the band’s performance came drifting towards the crowd, front-man Dave Bayley hopped off the stage and collapsed into the arms of a few hundred ecstatic fans. The moment, all genuine feeling and post-moshing sweat, captured everything special about Glass Animals. They’re one of those bands “you have to see live.” Minutes before they took the stage at The Music Hall of Williamsburg on Feb. 26, a line continued to form down the block.
Inside the Brookyln venue, Bayley alternated between twirling around the stage, waving a pineapple above his head, and staring into the crowd with a look of appreciative awe. In 2018, drummer Joe Seaward was involved in a cycling accident that forced the band to go on break indefinitely. Fortunately, Glass Animals were able to return late last year, and have since released two new singles: Tokyo Drifting, featuring Denzel Curry, and Your Love (Déjà vu).
This show was one of their first since their hiatus. From the onset, Bayley set the energy level to 10 and quickly had the audience matching his enthusiasm. Fan favorites like “Pork Soda,” and yet to be released single “Tangerine,” had the crowd dancing. More mellow, intimate tracks, like “Angus” and Youth,” which helped close the night, reminded many why the band had made it onto their “must see” lists.
We had a chance to ask Bayley about the band’s signature shows and highly-anticipated third album, which (crossing our fingers!) we hope will drop soon.
**Live performances seem to be a big part of your relationship with your fans. How do you foster such a wild, energetic atmosphere at your shows?**
_the key is pounding six ecstasy tablets one hour before going on stage. chew them to a pulp, and then they hit you right between the eyes just as the first 808 drops and you’re off like the energiser bunny. no not really. honestly it comes from the crowds themselves...their energy is always incredible. i’m not sure why. especially as quite a lot of our music is pretty chilled. but the people that come to our shows are genuinely amazing. i love them all. they sing so loud i can’t hear myself and i have to stop singing sometimes. so i dance. well i try to. but i’m not a good dancer. and i think that makes everyone in the room think, “wow he looks stupid, i might as well dance too then cos i cannot look as stupid as that guy. it’s all basically an accident._
**You're returning to performing after taking time off in 2018. How does it feel to be back on the road?**
_actually feels great. was worried about no one coming because it’s been a minute and culture moves so quickly now. i thought maybe we’d been forgotten! but the tickets sold out in like 40 seconds. also, having not been on stage for a while, i was a bit nervous about still enjoying it as much as i did. but as i said the crowds took care of that. thank you to everyone who came and who has been part of that so far. it’s been quite overwhelming._
**You've said that the new songs are a bit more personal than your early writing. What do you think allowed you to be more forthcoming, or confident in your voice?**
_a couple things. 1. seeing the response to our song “agnes” live, and on the internet. that was the most personal i’ve been on record before this album. and seeing people cry in the crowd and seeing people’s comments and receiving those letters made me realise that honesty, openness, and vulnerability are powerful and important things. 2. joes accident meant i spent a lot of time in a hospital. hospitals are very reflective places. i’m not sure why. maybe it’s being surrounded by death and seeing people with their families. you think about your life and your past a lot. 3. co-writing and production. after joes accident, he had to recover for months. so i went to LA while his bones fused back together. i just went out and did music of all types. theme songs for tv, beats for rappers, and songwriting for other projects. doing the songwriting for other people allowed me to write about all those things i was reflecting back on, but to also be removed from it by one degree because someone else was singing. but then when it came to writing for the GA album i just decided to lose that one degree and be as vulnerable as possible._
**Each of your album eras seem to have their own distinct aesthetic, whether it's the patchwork imagery, pineapples, or now, this colorful, digital landscape. Can we expect that aesthetic to continue onto the third album? Are you intentionally marking this as a turning point into a new era?**
_Yes, this new aesthetic is definitely marking a new era. the artwork is all of the things that surrounded me when the events outlined in the song took place. but 3d scans of those things. so you can fuck around with scale and animate and add chaos to the whole scene._
**What can expect from your forthcoming third album?**
_what’s coming is me pushing myself as hard as i can lyrically and sonically. i’ve learned so much in the past couple years from friends and family and other musicians...so so much. i’m very close to this album right now while putting on the finishing touches...but when i take a step back, i think with all of that learning and all of that pushing, it will be the strongest one yet by a distance. i’m very nervous to share it as it’s so exposing and so different, but for those reasons, i’m also very, very excited._
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Photo credit: Pooneh Ghana
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