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Glass Animals Frontman Dave Bayley Loves Australia So F***ing Much
They won Hottest 100 and even got tattoos of the country, but Glass Animals' love affair with Australia is far from over
When Glass Animals found out that “Gooey”, a single from their debut album Zaba, had achieved 3x Platinum status in Australia 10 years ago, the English indie-pop band probably thought that would be the peak of their success Down Under.
They couldn’t have been more wrong. Thanks to their 2020 single “Heat Waves”, one of the most streamed songs ever, Glass Animals enjoy a bond with Australia like few other overseas bands.
“Heat Waves” won triple j’s Hottest 100 of 2020, Glass Animals becoming the first British act to top the famous list in 11 years. The sleeper hit was so successful here that it was later certified as the number one song in Australia for the entirety of 2021.
As if that wasn’t enough evidence of the unbreakable bond shared between Glass Animals and Australia, the band members made good on their promise to get tattoos of the country on their buttocks one year on from winning the Hottest 100.
This year, Glass Animals returned to Australia to renew their relationship with local fans at a special Sydney show in May, with a national tour set to follow in November.
Over Zoom from the warm British summertime, the band’s frontman Dave Bayley echoes his appreciation for this country loud and clear. “We love Australia. I have Australia tattooed on my arse. It’s serious,” he says.
Three years on from their Hottest 100 triumph, Bayley still has fond memories of that day.
“I was in my underpants sitting on my sofa, and it was four or five in the morning because of the time difference” he recalls. “I just watched it go to like number three and I thought, ‘Oh fuck, maybe we’re not in it,’ and then it got announced. I got really emotional because we’d been locked in for so long. It was my first real vision of seeing that album be received outside of… my room.”
But despite “Heat Waves’ seemingly being played everywhere, Bayley and his bandmates were unable to be outside savouring their moment due to COVID restrictions. The holders of the biggest international song by a British band in decades were whisked on and off stages, shuttled back and forth between airports and hotel rooms, only getting to see from afar how the world was interacting with “Heat Waves”.
“It was really crazy. People were posting all these videos of people celebrating and partying and singing along to the song. And I hadn’t seen that at that point.”
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Three years on and Glass Animals are now bigger than ever. Their new album, I Love You So F***ing Much, was released last Friday, July 19th. The band gave Aussie fans an early preview of the album at their surprise Sydney show in May.
“When we come back to Australia, it’s like, how do we repay them? How do we repay you guys for giving us this breath of life?” Bayley says.
“It was high-energy party time. We were trying some new songs that we had never played before. We wanted to test the waters in Australia – I think it’s a nice place to try things because the crowds are always amazing and really positive and really enthusiastic” he continues, adding that British and Aussie crowds are like “cousins.”
“There’s a lot of lovingness in the UK, I feel like you have to kind of ease in. Whereas [in] Australia, you turn up, you get on the stage, it’s just bang. A shiver runs down your spine.”
I Love You So F***ing Much, Glass Animals’ first project since 2020’s Dreamland, was written during a moment of personal crisis in Bayley’s life. After undergoing such a huge jump in fame, did expectation levels for the band increase following “Heat Waves”?
“I mean, it changed my songwriting,” he says, explaining that “Heat Waves” originated from hurt but the song’s success allowed him to become confident in his vulnerability.
“‘Heat Waves’ was probably the most personal song I’d written up until that point. I really loved it, but I really thought it was too personal and too vulnerable to do what it did – but then it did – and it gave me a bit of a push to open up and write more personally.”
This vulnerability is strongly captured on Glass Animals’ new album. “I think that definitely comes across on this record. Success for me is being able to make another record and being able to keep pushing yourself and take a risk each time,” Bayley says.
I Love You So F***ing Much also helped Bayley to rediscover his musical pocket.
“If we take a risk and do something interesting and I enjoy it, that’s success to me. If you’re trying to make music to go viral, you’re fucked,” he laughs.
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In November, Glass Animals will return to Australia once again , with shows lined up in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. Ahead of the tour, Bayley offers a personal message for the band’s Australian fans.
“I just want to say we miss you guys. Thank you for everything and for making this album possible. This album’s really special to me – I feel like it’s my baby and it was quite a therapeutic process writing it. If I had to choose a favourite child out of my children, I think this would be my favourite child, and it wouldn’t have been possible without that amazing support and push from you guys, especially going back a couple of years when we were at our lowest and we got that amazing breath of life from everyone over there.
“I can’t thank you enough. We’ll make it up to you as best as we can when we come.”
Glass Animals’ I Love You So F***ing Much is out now via Polydor Records.
