STACK #190 Aug 2020

MUSIC FEATURE

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But … those things are flammable as f-ck. Just had to drop it immediately onto the stovetop.

In one of your recent cover videos, you said you always have toys in-studio, because if you get stuck you can grab one, distract your brain, and suddenly come up with a new idea.What sort of toys do you have scattered about? Loads. I’m in the studio now so will just look around… a Pez dispenser, a miniature remote control car, a larger remote control car, glow-in- the-dark slime, prototype Denzel Curry x Glass Animals nunchucks, a few action figures, some Pokémon cards, a Gameboy, a Super Nintendo, and a huge collection of art zines. You refer to yourself a number of times throughout the album (“It’s 2020… you go make an album and call it Dreamland ” – Dreamland ; “Davey’s on fire, you still got it” – Tokyo Drifting ).They whipped me out of my mesmerised state.Was it your intention to jolt us to attention with some meta? Oh, interesting. In Dreamland the idea was to put the listener in the driver’s seat, with that line – to ask them to go make their own version of the album and to go through their own memories. So yes, I guess the intention was to take you out of my head and put you into your own for a second. Tokyo Drifting , yes: ultimately it is meant to pull you out of Dreamland and put you firmly in the third person… that’s what I’m doing to myself in that song. The idea is that I’m meant to be assuming this swaggery alter-ego, and pushing myself to do things I’m not really confident enough to do. Glad both of those pulled you out and held you as an outside viewer for a second! Aside from the home videos we can hear throughout the album, what other kinds of visual aids did you use to jog your memory about the past? I was watching loads of old movies and TV I grew up with... Just had them spinning in the background on mute while I was working. I have a little retro TV in the studio here. I also have a huge folder of images I’ve found that I like. Lots of retro stuff in there. The cars I used to dream about having when I was a kid. Pictures of old teletext screens. Clothes I used to want. Toys I had. Food I ate. Video games I played. Pictures of all of it. You can see all

Read the full Q&A online at STACK.COM.AU

DAVE BAYLEY GLASS ANIMALS On third album Dreamland , Glass Animals frontman Dave Bayley combs through the entire beautiful mess of his life to date: childhood obsessions, pop culture touchpoints, uncertain loves, unabashed lusts, and all things hilarious, heart-breaking and -warming. He answered our questions about this gorgeous achievement in psych-pop experimentation.

sometimes those old memories that we’ve slightly forgotten and buried under

You’ve pointed out that people love nostalgia, but also noted that we’re in a hiatus –

our everyday life can feel fresh and new when we dig them up again. We can see them

that in isolation it's difficult to make new memories, almost

Things you've forgotten and remembered can feel a bit like you're experiencing

in a different light. Like sampling in music, you know. Sometimes if you bring those older songs – sad or happy – into a modern context, it can feel new.

like anterograde amnesia. Do you think it’s human nature that we must have

them again... like sampling in music

experiences (old memories or new info) flowing through our brains?

those objects on the album and single covers too. And as I said, the zines. My favourite at the moment: Pol-Edouard’s drawings. We snuck one of those on the album cover too… he very kindly gave us permission. ZKR

In the Dreamland clip, we can see that the instructions say to burn the photograph in a pan, but you put it directly on the burner. Did you ruin the stovetop? You know what… I got a pan out as well. And I was hoping to set the corner of the photograph on fire and then drop it in the pan.

I think so, yes… I think we have to be experiencing and

seeing our loved ones in some capacity, as that’s what gives us a reason to exist. Things you’ve forgotten and remembered can feel a bit like you’re experiencing [them] again. And

Dreamland by Glass Animals is out August 7 via Polydor.

10 AUGUST 2020

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