Oxford-based indie-rock band Glass Animals released their debut album Zaba in 2014 which was an immediate success, gaining the band just over 7 million listeners on Spotify and counting. Soon after, they started appearing at festivals such as Coachella, Glastonbury and Reading. With their jungle vibes and exotic instruments, Glass Animals are one of the most fresh and exciting bands to come out of this decade so far.
How can one band create such a unique sound for themselves and yet make every song so fresh? After hearing their second album How to Be a Human Being, I was astonished that every song was immediately identifiable as Glass Animals’ quirky sound and yet I was still captivated by every single song. They have managed to keep their unique sound and create two albums from it without boring their 2 million monthly listeners, a truly amazing feat.
The first single released from this album; ‘Life Itself’ straight away hits you with quirky instruments, featuring African drums (and what sounds like jingle bells?!), as well as having a catchy melody and lyrics. Season 2 Episode 3 (cleverly named, equating to Album 2 Song 3) adds a more 8-bit feel to the album as if you’re listening to a Nintendo game theme song, which I personally love. This song also features the lyrics ‘my girl eats mayonnaise from a jar when she’s getting blazed’ which is a particular favourite lyric of mine! Carrying on with the theme of food is the song Pork Soda which has the extremely catchy refrain ‘pineapples are in my head’, and Premade Sandwiches which is not a song so much as 30 seconds of extremely fast talking; a great way to break up the album a little bit. The flute lick in Mama’s Gun is also a particularly excellent part of this album. I would without a doubt recommend this album to anyone and everyone.
How to be a Human Being is by far my favourite album released in 2016 and I can’t wait to see them live in Leeds next year!
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