During the wait for the support and main acts last night, hypnotically beguiling King of Limbs remixes were played over the PA. This choice was no coincidence: Glass Animals are also from Oxfordshire, and known as admirers of Radiohead. Yet, it's more enlightening to consider their roots in the London bass music scene. Confounding expectations, their music felt more visceral than intellectual, and the overwhelming memory is of bass energy which seemed to permeate every cell in my body. There were also twisted electro pop hooks, and an audacious confidence about the performance.
My expectations about the stagecraft were confounded: I'd come here because I consider Zaba to be one of 2014's stronger album releases. Yet, it's a studio creation, owing much to Paul Epworth, and before his involvement, lead singer David Bayley's private experimentation with Garage Band. A review of their last visit to Manchester in June was less than complimentary, whilst a report on their show at The Troubadour in LA last week lamented the lack of engagement, suggesting that the studio sound didn't translate well to stage. So I was astounded by the level of energy last night, even if David's three childhood friends and fellow band members didn't attempt to emulate the frontman's antics. But fears that Glass Animals might repeat Alt-J's static demeanour, (whilst lacking their musical intricacy) were unfounded.
The mood for the evening had been established by Bradford artist Laura Groves: backed by full band, she proved a charismatic singer, painting vivid aural pictures. Yet it was the illustrious St Vincent who'd also been on the stage on the first occasion I saw Glass Animals, an experience which so swept me off my feet that I can recall little of the support act that evening. Last night also required a suspension of disbelief: they are both fantastical pop acts at heart. Viewed objectively, David Bayley's incessant, hyperactive dancing and mannered vocals could be regarded as mannered; even odd. Yet, the album's title was taken from his favourite childhood book, William Steig’s The Zabajaba Jungle, and represents a fictional, primitive scenario.
We were spared the palm plant props of the recent California show, and there was limited engagement with the audience between songs. Moreover, this Saturday night crowd was far from silent; yet the venue was filled with movement. Their influences include R&B acts such as The Weeknd, and Kanye West, to whom they paid tribute in a not wholly successful cover of Love Lockdown. Their best known song, the sensual Gooey, was a highlight alongside Black Mambo, but the tension never subsided throughout an intense hour long set. David Bayley studied neuroscience at medical school, and the subject matter of the songs, beyond the superficial jungle theme, is often dark. But the Radiohead comparison should not be stretched too far: there isn't such a level of subtlety, despite the clever combination of electronics and found sounds. Instead, this was a wonderfully life enhancing escape, an intoxicating rush of rhythmic energy, which was also surprisingly visually engaging.
Set List
- Psylla
- Black Mambo
- Exxus
- Gooey
- Walla Walla
- Intruxx
- Hazey
- Toes
- Flip
- Cocoa Hooves
- Wyrd
- Love Lockdown (Kanye West cover)
- Pools
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