Take a trip to Dreamland with Glass Animals latest release

Glass Animals drop a summer album, as is their tradition, and Dreamland doesn’t drift far from the dreamy hallucinogenic style we’ve learnt to expect from the Oxford quartet. These songs are almost mystical, leaving the listener overwhelmed by the multi-layered tracks. The album is peppered with iconic synths, dance-heavy psychedelia and re-worked distorted vocals.

An undeniable confidence radiates through this album. Seemingly nonsensical tracks such as ‘Tangerine’ (“Hands, knees, please tangerine tangerine”) provide tight instrumentals and quick lyrics, demonstrating the bands developed skill. The production of the entire album feels technicolored and randomised, with bouncy electronica meeting loud synth. This further portrays the bands swaggering confidence. They’re in their element.

What makes this album the most enthralling is its emotional depth. Frontman Dave Bayley brings shocking honesty with anecdotal lyrics, “You were ten years old, holdin’ hands in the classroom // He had a gun on the first day of high school”. The candour demonstrated through such lyrics, highlights more open, real side to the Glass Animals; the gun story is from Bayley’s personal experience. ‘Domestic Bliss’ even addresses the pain and tragedy of domestic violence. It’s both blunt and cynical; Glass Animals aren’t bypassing darker issues in this album.

This openness is seen further in softer more intimate track ‘Melon and the coconut’ which doesn’t shy away from melancholy and sadness. Lyrics “I can’t stop life movin’ onwards // I can’t hide you from life’s horrors” set the tone for an expressive and emotive album. This allows it to shine through to listeners, with a powerful punch of cold reality. Despite a bubbly hallucinogenic sound, this album is filled with darker, striking emotional links. The Glass Animals may transport us to Dreamland, but it’s not as utopian as first assumed.