“Dreamland” – Glass Animals Latest Single and Upcoming Album

While staying home for quarantine, Glass Animals has been working on a series of covers from artists such as Lana Del Rey and Nirvana in their own unique sound that turned out wonderfully. If that wasn’t enough for you, this week they have just released their latest single “Dreamland” which also happens to be the name of their new upcoming album. After drummer Joe Seaward had a severe accident that almost took his life in 2018, the band took a bit of a hiatus from music while Joe was in recovery. While Joe was healing and rehabilitating from severe brain injuries, lead singer Dave Bailey was working on music for other artists such as Joey Bada$$, Flume, Wale, and Khalid on their personal records. Bayley has said that helping other people write lyrics about their personal stories really helped him gain the confidence to write lyrics that pertain to his personal life.

Their previous album “How to Be A Human Being” was based off Bayley constantly interviewing random strangers, with pretty heavy questions, and using their stories to create fictional characters. “Dreamland”, on the other hand, is entirely autobiographical. In the album Bayley recalls his childhood, digging deep personally about the why is the person that he is today. The title of the album, Bayley says, refers to how often he would zone out in class and “daydream of weird things to escape.” The album covers a full spectrum of human emotions, each song being tied to a different one, the sound being light and dreamy feeling but the lyricism being very heavy and dark. He has stated that he wants the album to be a full reflection of life.

The first to be released for the album, “Dreamland”, captures everything that Bayley intended for it to. The production of the song is light and airy, making you feel like you’re floating on a cloud through a magical candy land, calming and inspiring. The lyrics, however, pull you back down to earth in best and realest way. As if you were walking through your head watching every notable memory you’ve ever made, while also facing the way that you’ve been socialized into living in the world around you. Bayley analyzes his life through his memories, past and recent, but then pulls it all into his current mindset how the album has arisen out of that.

“You go ask your questions like, “What makes a man?”
Oh, it’s 2020, so it’s time to change that
So you go make an album and call it Dreamland”