Dreamland // Glass Animals – Clara Dijkstra
Released: 7 August 2020
Glass Animals released Dreamland in August, and it fits perfectly with the mood of that month, with lockdown relaxed and a brief glimpse of normal summer life. Songs like ‘Heatwave’, ‘Tangerine’, ‘Hot Sugar’ and ‘Dreamland’ are the perfect energetic background music to carefree summer evenings.
Musically the band really took a step forward since 2016’s How To Be A Human Being. Every track feels like a multi-layered journey, with short tracks like ‘((home movie: rockets))’ and ‘((home movies: shoes on)’ featuring quirky sound bites. ‘Melon and the Coconut’, ‘Your Love (Déjà Vu)’ and ‘Domestic Bliss’ are perfect examples of the band’s expert vocals and echoey musings, the ideal road trip soundtrack. The album also features an excellent collaboration with Denzel Curry on ‘Tokyo Drifting’, taking the band away from their usual ambient sounds to a heavier hip-hop beat. Finally, ‘It’s All So Incredibly Loud’ is the unexpectedly gut wrenching stand out track on Dreamland, slightly anxiety inducing but worth playing on repeat.