Behind 'Heat Waves': Why Glass Animals' Dave Bayley Felt He Was 'Walking Out Naked'

It's no great secret that Glass Animals are a band who have steadily charmed the world with their affable and dreamy take on indie pop and rock.

For over a decade, the beloved UK group have gone on to unveil three studio albums, including their most recent full-length Dreamland. Alongside releases, the band are also currently nominated for a Grammy award in 2022 - and closer to home here in Australia, their iconic track Heat Waves took out the coveted #1 spot on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2020, of course, but more recently the track also scored the crown as Spotify’s most-streamed track in 2021, and also took out the #1 spot on the 2021 ARIA end of year Singles Chart. Not too shabby for a track released a year and a half ago.

Glass Animals are an anomaly in the best possible way, conjuring otherworldly psychedelic pop and hypnotic electronica in their recordings, while also often reworking their tracks to be more dance-friendly for their live sets - and Aussie fans are set to cop the group live in technicolour action later this year, with the group lined up to play their biggest headline shows to date, including Perth, Sydney and Melbourne in July, and they’re also on deck for the sold out Splendour In The Grass extravaganza lined up for July as well. And along for the ride, of course, will be a long-awaited live celebration of the group's sublime 2020 album Dreamland.

While the joyous announcement of the group's down under tour was met with utter delight, the road to finally touring their introspective and deeply personal album Dreamland was not without significant heartache and struggle. In fact, as frontman Dave Bayley revealed to host Tiana Speter on the latest episode of The Green Room podcast, the reality of fusing real-life memories and the compounding anxieties surrounding drummer Joe Seaward's horrific accident in 2018 meant Bayley and co. were primed with abundant nerves when it came to releasing new music - and then the COVID-19 pandemic came into proceedings.

"It felt weird!" Bayley mused to host Speter. "It felt really weird, I was scared.

"I felt a bit like I was walking out naked! Especially considering the climate of the world, everyone was locked in, everyone was really listening to old music and, kind of, trying to find comfort in the past at that point. 

"And I didn't really know where new music fit into that. I felt weirdly selfish talking about personal stuff."

Bayley went on to reveal that, at the time of release, the band and their team had zero expectations for the album, instead bracing themselves for a flop, given the state of the world in August 2020 when the album finally dropped. But the group forged ahead, not wanting to sit on the music any longer, and resigned themselves to moving on and working on new material, never dreaming that they were sitting on a monster breakout hit, particularly in the form of the gooey track Heat Waves that went on to smash streaming and chart records around the world. 

A poignant and hypnotic tune about loss and longing, Heat Waves would go on to become Glass Animals' most successful single of their career so far, proving to be a sleeper hit in the UK, a #1 in Australia and routinely demolishing streaming and chart records both down under and overseas. But it was the reaction in Australia that significantly resonated with the group, as Bayley explained.

"All of that stuff is almost incomprehensible," Bayley said, his voice softening.

"But I guess I have to say that the reaction in Australia...that was one of the first places that, I mean, ever, in the history of the band: liked us!" Bayley laughed.

"And it was kind of the same with [Dreamland], watching the response over there, people on social media and things were, kind of...I'd wake up to see what people were doing! 

"There was all this amazing artwork and people listening to the record - all coming from Australia!

"That was, kind of, my life jacket, it's why I got up through that period when I could well have been - and kind of was - feeling pretty doomed. 

"So, thank you to everybody, really!"

While their 2022 shows definitely won't be the band's first foray into Australia, with the band previously jumping onstage at Falls Festival, Laneway Festival and having taken part in triple j's Like A Version more than once - they definitely are entirely primed and ready to unleash on stages down under come July 2022 (and perhaps even "over rehearsed", as Bayley elaborated on further in today's Green Room episode).

"I just can't wait!" Bayley enthused to host Speter. "Australia is always where we've had the best shows. Ever. 

"And crazy stuff always happens, I don't know why!"

And for Glass Animals fans out there, you may want to listen to the very end of The Green Room episode, where Dave reveals some minor secrets about the status of new music this year...

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Glass Animals will head to Australia this July for their biggest down under headline shows to date, including at HBF Stadium in Perth, the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney, John Cain Arena in Melbourne and Splendour In The Grass in Byron Bay. Head here for more info.

To check out the full chat with Dave and host Tiana Speter, you can listen below, via the Euphony site, on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts - or wherever you usually get your podcasts from.