Glass Animals surprised us all with a new track from their upcoming album “Dreamland” just days after announcing the album’s release postponement. Just three days ago frontman Dave Bayley took to Instagram to announce that the band is indefinitely pausing their album release plans in order to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter Movement.
Dave Bayley wrote, “As some of you may have worked out, a few weeks ago we were supposed to release one of the main singles from album 3… All eyes and minds needed to be focused on civil rights and understanding how to defeat prejudice, and we made the decision to pause our album release plan indefinitely.”
Dreamland is now officially set to be released August 7th. Until then, we have “Heat Wave” to dance to in our living rooms.
The song opens with a dreamy lo-fi beat and echoey vocals, then kicks into a smooth melody carried by a simple trap backbeat. The lyrics express the positive in vulnerability, that it’s something to celebrate. Bayley explained that the song is about being defeated by something, not being able to save it, and realizing it’s okay that you can’t make everyone happy.
The sentiments of the lyrics are tweaked in the music video to fit the context of our current reality in the music industry. Live music is a massively important means of healing and connecting for so many, and it has come to a seemingly indefinite halt amidst the global pandemic. Live streams from our couches can only do so much, and Dave Bayley gives that shared yearning we all feel a wonderful visual representation in this music video.
Fans are stuck in their homes taking videos from their apartment windows of Dave dancing through the streets of London. He’s all by himself, singing and dancing to “Heat Waves,” pulling a wagon along that’s carrying four strapped-in TV sets. He finally gets to an empty auditorium and sets up the TVs, which display on each screen the other bandmates Joe, Drew and Ed. Though they are all separated by social distancing and miss performing as a group, they were able to put together a makeshift live performance of their new song.
“Dreamland as an album stands for destroying engrained thinking patterns of all forms. Parts of the world have been designed by those who lived before us to try to make us behave in an unjust, black and white, and binary way. F*** that. Life should be colorful.” With this statement, especially smack at the end of PRIDE Month, Dave Bayley continues to use his platform to amplify black voices and celebrate diversity, creativity and community.
Other Articles
“DAWN” by BRONSON ft. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
No Comment! Be the first one.