Spaceships, Saturn, secret messages, and intergalactic existentialism are all things Glass Animals performed at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, on Tuesday, August 27th, 2024. They executed an electrifying performance filled with glamor, a stunning stage set, and a passionate performance from frontman Dave Bayley truly capturing the audience at every moment with not a second of boredom. But this is a major contrast to the most recent album release from the “Heat Waves” overnight sensations, which can only be labeled as BORING.
For context, I have been a long-standing fan of Glass Animals due to their debut album, Zaba. The tropical and transformative album, to me, exemplifies what Glass Animals is extremely talented at creating an atmosphere in unexpected environments. Who would have ever known what an album seemingly formed deep in the jungle underneath vines and screeching undiscovered creatures could sound like? Glass Animals. Their ability to conjure such an indescribable album had originally made me so fascinated and dedicated to the band for many years to come. I desired every strange lick they thought of and stayed involved with their growth as a band. Ultimately, this and the 2016 release, How to Be Human Being (one of my top 10 albums), sent Glass Animals to be my second favorite band of all time.
But due to my deep passion for Glass Animals, I was always going to be their best and worst critic. My bias of loving everything they do is true, but knowing so much about them also leads to my intense criticism when let down by the band. At some point, a fan will not like what a band does no matter how much they like them depending on if they want the original sound or what a change from it. Glass Animals leans into the latter, always having a unique and changing sound and never staying to one idea solidly but instead integrating a variety of bizarre and intriguing ideas into a wonderful array of sounds and moods. Again, that atmosphere I mentioned? Impeccable. Every album they’ve released I’ve fallen in love with because of their changes and proudly shared with fellow music lovers, except for the latest release.
"I Love You So F***cking Much" was an album I anticipated and predicted the outcome after the boom of Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves” and Dreamland's popularity. While not publicly stated on any forums or social media, between my friends I expressed my disdain for the overwhelming popularity of the song and how it would change the band for the worst, not the best. I want to clarify first that I think Glass Animals deserves all the attention and recognition they have received in the past four years. I am so proud to see a band I have loved so deeply hit such great achievements. But due to such fast growth and international fame, I instantly recognized the potential issues down the line.
Dreamland was a step Glass Animals made into a cleaner, stripped-down sound that the band had always had a semblance of but never fully leaned into before. While considered a psychedelic pop indie band since the start, in Zaba and HTBHB, Glass Animals leaned more towards the psychedelic and experimental genre over the now pop-heavy structure of their songs. Always using interesting samples of voices, beats, ambient noises, and electronic flare; these elements set Glass Animals apart with the combination of Dave Bayley’s introspective and poetic lyricism that pulls listeners to find the message and deliberate about what “peanut butter vibes” really means. Dreamland revered these elements as well with the audio clips of Bayley’s childhood leading the story of his life he was presenting, but a strong difference came with presentation: direct lyrics, formulaic song structure, and overtly relatable themes. This felt like a big step away from the albums’ predecessors and it wasn’t bad in my opinion. I personally loved Dreamland, and overall, I think the album is extremely impactful on their discography and followed that introspective, experimental energy the band sought after. Dreamland was a change for the band and one that felt in tune with the typical progression of their discography.
But when “Heat Waves” charted and became an international success, over 3 billion plays on Spotify alone to date, it highlighted the pop side of Dreamland over those experimental and interesting parts of the album. While not inherently bad, pop music at times can be very formulaic and one song can be difficult to differentiate from the next. To me, there is a difference between an album having a theme with its sound and the replication of sound used to a point you cannot tell the difference between songs; ILYSFM has this exact issue. Upon first listen to “Creatures in Heaven”, I really enjoyed the song because of how deeply I related to the romantic themes, but the song reminded me instantly of “Heat Waves” from the singing style, production style, song structure, etc. It felt like an attempt to replicate what made the song so popular to gain that success again. It was a discouraging sign that confirmed what I believed for years at that point: the next album would be an attempt to copy their success, not a Glass Animals’ conceptual masterpiece.
Then the album came out and I listened to it over and over and over. It was catchy, direct, relatable, and boring. No song was bad, but they weren’t enthralling and shocking like “The Other Side of Paradise” or “Take a Slice” which are unforgettable titles from the band that truly delve into analyzing human conditions and an intense realization of existence from specific character creations driven by punchy riffs, melting melodies, and memorable hooks. Most of the songs off the new album were forgettable at best with the biggest damage being done to the lyricism. You do not need to investigate the lyrics because they are thematically repetitive and don’t present the listener the opportunity to find depth in meaning unlike the prior albums. Unfortunately, diving so hard into the relatability, especially in the expansive themes of love, is overdone and uninspired, especially when you aren’t saying anything new. It comes off dishonest, impersonal, and what attempts of vulnerability Bayley makes, fall onto deaf ears as the lyrics fall into a void of nothingness.
Musically, the album succeeds no better, feeling as a deliberate replication of “Heat Waves”. Whether this was the intended direction or not; it is how it comes across. The album is definitively catchy, making it extremely easy to listen to repeatedly, but none of the songs are distinguishable from others on a production level besides “Wonderful Nothing,” which commands a groovy and fueling beat that the rest of the album lacks, although the lyrics’ attitude and substance again says nothing. Leaning more into the R&B and indie pop trends now, the album falls flat because instead of feeling inspired by these genres, they feel required to make something profitable for the masses.
Streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, etc. have formed a culture surrounding singles over albums. This means that the formulas of music are more important than ever to put your music on the charts or to stay relevant as an artist. It’s an unfortunate reality that requires musicians to focus on a single song over the actual composition of a concept and to follow trends on TikTok or Instagram to garner attention and importance for their music instead of letting the music and, ultimately, themselves speak; they fall into the ether of noise and by trying to grasp the entirety of space, Glass Animals was sucked into a black hole of corporate command.
Performance-wise, Glass Animals is not a band you want to miss. Their presence on stage, especially that of Dave Bayley, is addicting, and no matter the song they play, his wavey, energetic, positive person has blown me away more than once. His voice is all-consuming in an arena, with every flare and change a delight to open ears. Their genuinity comes from their live sets and the atmosphere of their minds replicated to a stage; it is as if a direct image of Bayley’s imagination is ripped from his mind and displayed in front of me. Their love for their fans is apparent and desire to do what they do plays an enormous factor within the show and is what makes those songs off the new album become entertaining to listen to. Underneath a large planet and beside a lingering pineapple, Glass Animals is a star lost in a pitch-black sky, shining on, but I fear burning out.
Where to find Glass Animals
Website: https://www.glassanimals.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glassanimals/
Comments