ThursdayApr012021
Credit: Pooneh GhanaGlass Animals' single "Heat Waves" is giving the band lots of firsts. Not only is it their first number-one single on Billboard's Alternative Airplay chart, its also their first song to enter the all-genre Hot 100 ranking.
Speaking with ABC Audio, frontman Dave Bayley shares that the success of "Heat Waves" means a "huge amount" to him and his band mates, especially given that they haven't been able to tour and see fans in person amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We haven't actually been able to go overseas, but this song has kind of traveled and sort of done that for us," Bayley says. "We feel very lucky to have had that, it's pretty amazing."
As for what's driving "Heat Waves'" success, drummer Joe Seaward thinks that the combination of "upbeat, exciting music" and "remorseful, mournful lyrics" has connected with fans during a hard year.
"It's quite sad," Seaward says. "I think that that resonates quite strongly with what's been happening to people in the last year."
"Heat Waves" appears on Glass Animals' new album, Dreamland, which is a concept album about Bayley's childhood. Bayley hopes that listeners who might be hearing about Glass Animals for the first time through "Heat Waves" will give Dreamland as a whole a try.
"[Dreamland] was very much written and made as an entire entity, as an entire world," Bayley says. "I've always loved albums that are, like, albums, for that reason. I think you can say a lot more when an actual album is greater than the sum of its parts."
For Seaward, he's treating the success of "Heat Waves" just like every other Glass Animals success: as a "lovely surprise."
"You just never feel jaded, I think, is the nice thing," he says. "'Cause everything's always a bonus."
By Josh Johnson
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