Glass Animals

Glass Animals formed in Oxford, England, in 2010, building a sound that moves between indie rock, electronic pop, trip hop and psychedelia. The group is made up of Dave Bayley, who handles vocals, guitar, keyboards, drums and songwriting; guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Drew MacFarlane; bassist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Edmund Irwin-Singer; and drummer Joe Seaward.

The band’s 2014 debut album, Zaba, introduced their early, atmospheric approach and produced “Gooey,” a single that was later certified platinum in the United States. The song brought Glass Animals international recognition and set up their second album, How to Be a Human Being. That record received positive reviews, was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize, and won UK Album of the Year and Self Producing Artist of the Year at the 2018 MPG Awards.

Glass Animals reached a larger commercial scale with their third album, Dreamland, which peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart and number seven on the US Billboard 200. Its single “Heat Waves” became the band’s biggest hit after going viral on TikTok during the COVID-19 pandemic. It reached number one in Australia in February 2021, topped the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2020, and later rose to number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number five on the UK Singles Chart. By September 2022, the track had surpassed two billion streams on Spotify.

In 2022, Glass Animals received two Brit Award nominations, for Best British Alternative/Rock Act and Best British Single for “Heat Waves.” The band also received its first Grammy nomination that year, in the Best New Artist category.