Review | Indie stars Glass Animals rise to the challenge with their second album
Debut album Zaba was always going to be a tough act to follow, but Glass Animals have created a lush and assured follow-up
How To Be a Human Being
Harvest Records
Following 2014’s accomplished and eclectic debut, Zaba, which drew comparisons to Alt-J and the artier side of British indie, was always going to be a challenge for Glass Animals. So for their second release, the Oxford quartet (who will play Singapore’s Laneway Festival on January 21) have constructed a concept album of sorts. With lyrics taken from snippets of conversation heard over two years of non-stop global touring, each of the 11 tracks on How To Be a Human Being is about a different character created by vocalist Dave Bayley. Drawing on the weird and wonderful tales of strangers, the vibe certainly has a human feel to it (“Pineapples are in my head/ Got nobody ’cause I’m brain dead”, Bayley sings on Pork Soda) and the sultry single Youth, with its cheeky blasts of flute and the frontman’s gorgeous falsetto, could be mistaken for a Wild Beasts number. With tunes as lush and assured as anything from their debut, HTBAHB is the alluring sound of a young band growing into their artistic vision.
