EP Review: Glass Animals

New York – Backed by a powerhouse producer and armed with a rare type of talent that shatters genre-specific expectations, Glass Animals are a standout new group. Offering up the sort of music that will put you on edge as easily as it puts you at ease, experimentation comes naturally to this gang.  Their work may test your comfort zone, but will also surprise you with the undeniable likability of their unease.

Glass Animals are four friends from Oxford – Dave Bayley, Drew MacFarlane, Edmund Irwin-Singer and Joe Seaward. They released their first EPLeaflings, in September 2012 on Kaya Kaya Records. The group then became the first band to sign onto Wolf Tone, releasing Black Mambbo/Exxus, a double-sided EP in May. Their new, self-titled, EP was also released on Wolf Tone on November 11th and on Harvest Records in the U.S. 

Wolf Tone is the new record label from Britain’s own Paul Epworth. Epworth was awarded four Grammy Awards last year alone, and his sterling career as a music producer includes collaborations with an endless list of stellar acts – Friendly Fires, Florence and the Machine, Paul McCartney and Adele to name a few heavy hitters.

It is no mistake that Glass Animals should fall into Epworth’s capable hands as the pioneer outfit on Wolf Tone. Although a relatively young band in terms of their discography, their talent is evident and their potential to gain a mass following is imminent. The four have been friends since the age of thirteen, a closeness that seems to have served the group well in terms of their chemistry and collaboration.

Together, the friends deliver music that is clearly conceived with care.  Their work pulls listeners into a unique sonic place. With soulful vocals set to R&B inspired rhythms and peppered with negative space, their sound is an exercise in genre-bending explorationSynth-pop might be the closest classification, but trip-hop, dub step, alternative and electronic somehow all also fit too. Listeners might not know exactly what to expect from Glass Animals, but may just be their greatest draw.

The music videos alone are without a doubt worth your time. A twisted and darkly stunning montage of nature and the human body, decaying corpses and torturous corporal interactions with insects, grit and grime, their imagery will make you squirm. Yet, the videos are somehow ethereal in their natural beauty. The videos for “Psylla” and “Black Mambo” feel like a dazzling and voyeuristic peak at the deepest darkest corners of the woods at the witching hour. These videos feel like watching a psych experiment unfold slowly on a group of undead naturalists, to a soundtrack of contagious and toxic rhythm.

Not unsurprisingly, Bayley holds a degree in neuroscience and spent much time during his student years with psychiatric patients. Deeply anxious about the recording process, Bayley is said to have recorded the vocals with a blanket over his head. His high anxiety lends to the overall vibe of Glass Animals, but in such a way that the darkness is dazzlingly indulgent, and never too deeply dim.

Whether or not the neurosis at the core of Glass Animals speaks to you, their sound will most likely worm its way in. Put this group on repeat, prepare for a trip and keep one ear to the ground for US tour dates. Currently coming off their UK tour, Glass Animals will cross the pond to play SXSW in March.

 

Liz Rowley

Liz Rowley

Born in Mexico and raised in Toronto, Jerusalem and Chicago by a pair of journalists, Liz comes to BestNewBands.com with an inherited love of writing. After discovering a niche for herself in music journalism and radio while at Bates College in Maine, she always keeps a running playlist of new music to soundtrack her place in the world. Liz is passionate about helping dedicated, talented musicians gain the exposure they deserve. A recent transplant to Brooklyn from Hawaii, she is plagued by an incurable case of wanderlust and cursed with an affinity for old maps and old things like typewriters and vintage books. She adores photography and running and is very good with plants. Having come of age in Chicago, Wilco speaks to her soul. If she could be anything, she would be a cat in a Murakami novel.
Liz Rowley