After remaining disconcertingly quiet since the release of their 2020 album Dreamland, the Oxford-founded indie band Glass Animals would seem to be in the process of emerging from their lengthy hibernation.
While no specifics are yet available about what's actually on the horizon, the band has released a video to social media as well as its YouTube channel which certainly seems to indicate the impending arrival of new music, and not simply because it was accompanied by the one-word message, "Incoming..."
Glass Animals performing at Lollapalooza 2022 in Chicago
There's definitely more than a little bit of a hint of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy about the video message, since it kicks off with a couple of dolphins swimming through space that immediately brings to mind a certain song from the cinematic adaptation of Douglas Adams' sci-fi classic. The point of comparison becomes even more specific for those who go to the band's website, which initially says, "Don't panic," and then once you've entered your email information, follows with, "Thanks for all the fish." Additionally, if you click on the phrase, it takes you to the Wikipedia entry for "Meaning of life." As such, we here at Q will be disappointed with anything less than a 42-song concept album about life, the universe, and everything, but time will tell what's actually forthcoming on the new-music front.
At the very least, however, Glass Animals have offered assurances of two upcoming concert dates, even if they're opting to be less than specific about those as well.
On their official Twitter account, the band offered only this message...
testing…1…2…3. greetings human of Earth. we’ve missed you, and can’t wait to see you all. x
...accompanied by a graphic which promised that the band would be performing in "The Wild West, CA, USA, Earth" and "Mexico City, Mexico, Earth."
For those not yet aware of Glass Animals, the band released their debut EP, Leaflings, in 2012, but their buzz really started to build with the release of their self-titled 2013 EP and their 2014 debut album, Zaba, which hit No. 12 in Australia, No. 92 in the UK, and – perhaps most surprisingly – made its way onto the Billboard 200, albeit in the lower reaches (No. 177).
By the time the band released their second album, How to Be a Human Being, in 2016, they officially qualified as a big thing, cracking the US top 20 and going silver in the UK, but it was their third album that cemented their stardom. The aforementioned Dreamland went to No. 7 in the US, No. 2 in the UK, and spawned the insanely popular hit single “Heat Waves.” Granted, the song was definitely the textbook definition of a “grower,” taking 59 weeks to make its way to the top of the Hot 100, but it also managed to set a record for the longest-charting song of all time, spending 91 weeks on the chart.
With all of this information now cited, one can better appreciate why the knowledge that the answer to the long-gestating question "what's next for Glass Animals" is finally about to be answered is one that's got a lot of people excited.
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