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Glass Animals
It was a pleasure and delight for the OSE
band, Glass Animals, to chat with me (the
Christopher Gray of
The Chronicle
) just before
an album signing at the Cowley Road Truck
Store the day after the release of their second
album,
How to be a Human Being
. When asked
under which category I might find their music,
Dave Bayley, the band’s principal writer and
producer, playfully suggests ‘pre-owned’ but is
interrupted by keyboard and bassist, Ed Irwin-
Singer who helpfully responds ‘alternative’ ie
not fitting any other genre. Various magazine
and newspaper articles and Wikipedia suggest
psychedelic indie-pop while iTunes list the
genre as electronica. Spotify avoid such labels
but have found the band to be very popular
(200 million downloads for their first album,
Zaba
). To my seventies-educated rock-glam-
pop-punk ears they have a distinctive style that
is both mesmerising and maturing.
While the band is garnering greater interest
and success in the UK, they are huge in both
Australia and the US where they sell out to
thousands at their live gigs; the new album
has leapt into the top 20 of the respective
charts. Appearing at all the big UK festivals
including Glastonbury, Reading/Leeds and on
US TV (David Letterman’s
The Late Show
and
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
) they have most recently
featured at the Wilderness Festival and, true
to their roots, a ‘surprise’ gig at the Bullingdon
in Oxford. They are not quite household
names – yet at the time of writing ranked
23 in the BBC album chart – but neither do
they take on any airs or pretensions and are
genuinely pleased to see and hear support
and plaudits for their work – from whatever
source, be it music magazines – who seem to
love them – or fans on Twitter and Instagram
who decidedly love them!
But what of their origins?
All remain Oxford residents and were day
boys at Teddies leaving the school in 2007
very well qualified and all off to university.
Ed Irwin-Singer and Drew Macfarlane
were music scholars with all the attendant
involvement in orchestras, choirs and school
bands and found themselves continuing
together with further scholarships to
Cambridge. The extent of collaboration
at School was that Drew and Dave played
a bit of guitar together but the university
vacations found them all back in Oxford with
time on their hands. Joined by drummer
Joe Seaward (another Cowell’s man) the
band got together in 2010 and sought the
assistance of music master, Rob Hughes, who
arranged for them to utilise the brand new
Martyrs Pavilion over the summer. Virtually
living there for days on end spawned their
early work, gigs at the Jericho Tavern and
eventually an EP,
Leaflings
, in 2012.
The big break came when they came to
the attention of producer, Paul Epworth
(of Adele/
Skyfall
fame), and signed to his
new label, Wolf Tone. Another EP followed
in 2013 including the single
Black Mambo
which formed the basis for their 2014 debut
album,
Zaba
, co-produced by Dave Bayley
and Epworth, with which they have toured
the world for two years. Epworth remains
executive producer and while all the band
contribute creatively, it is essentially Dave
who writes and has produced the new work.
In the two days since the launch they have
been in Brighton, London, Oxford and then
off to Los Angeles. Do try them out and see
what you think.
Oh, and by the way, let us not overlook the
fact that the aforementioned Truck Store is
linked closely with OSE brothers Joe and Robin
Bennett, the driving force behind the store and
the annual Truck Festival in Steventon.
ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE
FOCUS ON MUSIC
By John Wiggins, Contributor-at-Large
Left to right: Joe Seaward, Drew MacFarlane, Dave Bayley and Ed Irwin-Singer, all OSE