It’s not often that a new artist or band can almost immediately separate themselves from their competition in terms of an innovative or unique sound. But that’s exactly what indie rock band Glass Animals did with their debut album“Zaba” back in 2014. “Zaba” was well known for its use of mysterious and strange sounds backed up by syrupy lyrics and deep, almost jungle-inspired percussion. I instantly became ahuge fan and I was extremely excited to learnabout their most recent album “How to Be a Human Being” released in August.
Not only does “How to Be a Human Being” improve upon Glass Animals’ already solid musical basis, but also introduces a new aspect to their storytelling and emotional appeal. They structured the album almost like a chronicle of the stories the world shares as flawed human beings. The album’s title hints at this but it goes a bit deeper.
All of the tracks on the album are based on true stories the lead singer of the band, Dave Bayley, heard from people he has met throughout his life. There are 11 characters on the cover of the album representing people of all shapes and sizes, and each one of the 11 tracks on the album represents one of these characters. The emotional impact of each cut is so strong because you can tie them to true experiences. In terms of the music, this time around Glass Animals has really capitalized on their percussion skills and the flow of Bayley’s vocals as well as his ability to change tones and vocal ranges to portray the different characters.
The first track, “Life Itself,” tells the story of a social outcast and features a driving, momentous, almost primal percussion line and a cacophonous hook. The cut “Pork Soda” tells the story of two lovers who no longer have the spark they did in the past and the nostalgia that comes from those early memories. In terms of the backing instrumental, the song is incredibly punchy and memorable. The percussion features a sound like a dodgeball being smacked and some nicely flowing synth chords and bass riffs.
My absolute favorite tracks on the record,however, are “Season 2 Episode 3” and “CaneShuga.” “Season 2 Episode 3” tells the storyof a girl who isn’t interested in doing anything except binge-watching TV shows all day, which calls out our current “Netflix Binge” culture.The lyrics themselves reference a few popularTV shows like “Adventure Time” and the track features synthesized beeps and clicks akin to the sounds of an old videogame or cartoon.“Cane Shuga” has a trap or hip-hop flavor with its addicting flow and silvery hi-hats. It also includes an extremely fitting chorus and hook that ties into the character’s perception of himself and his relationship as an addict to cocaine.
The only track I did not enjoy off of the entire record was “Take A Slice.” That’s not to say it wasn’t well put together or it didn’t sound good, but it had the weakest lyrical base out of all of the other tracks and the character the song portrays is by far the least interesting. There is also the very short interlude track “[Premade Sandwiches]” which is a sped-up and distorted spoken word about the observations of a manstanding on a street corner. It’s a little hard to understand the first few times, but it is interesting and funny.
This record is a prime example of the imagination and musical talent that Glass Animals possesses. Not only does the music on this album show the passion of the artists, but the collection of human interest stories that inspired the lyrics make this whole record a worthwhile experience.
