Glass Animals Share Animated Video & Announce 'Zaba' Details

With ‘Zaba', their debut LP, out next month,  Oxford's Glass Animals have out out an animated video for album track 'Pools'.

The album was recorded at Wolf Tone Studios in London, and produced by frontman Dave Bayley under executive production of Paul Epworth. The 11 track record also features recent single ‘Gooey' and a reworking of previous limited EP release, 'Black Mambo'.

Created in Epworth's own studio, the 'Zaba' title is lifted from Dave's favorite childhood story - William Steig's The Zabajaba Jungle. Steig's evocation of childhood adventure, exoticism and discovery is brilliantly fresh. "The sound of the record," Dave says, "is like a backdrop of man-made wilderness…"

Influenced by the exploratory, New World scenarios of Apocalypse Now, The Island of Dr Moreau, Heart of Darkness, The African Queen and Mosquito Coast, 'Zaba's songs tackle the humanization of nature and human interference with nature. "Even now a lot of my favorite books are those books that I grew up with," he says. "Things like Zabajaba, like Roald Dahl, like Wind in the Willows. I suppose all I've been doing is using those little creatures and animals to cover up what I really meant, to disguise who and what I was really talking about.”

First single, ‘Gooey' is wobbly and child-like, a hymn to naivety. "There's a confidence in the way children act," Dave says. "I was trying to push that confidence into the beat." 'Walla-Walla' goes back to Dave's love of Timbaland and Dr. Dre, while Intruxx, initially the introduction to the entire record, summarizes this entire new world you're entering. "I used to be really into super-clean, no flaws production," says Dave, "but now I like the context and soul that mistakes, chopped samples, and swirly white amp-noises give you.... We definitely were a bit self-conscious, we were once afraid to do something bold. Now when we're together in the studio we don't worry about those things. In fact, we don't worry about anything at all…”


‘Zaba’ Tracklisting
1. Flip
2. Black Mambo
3. Pools
4. Gooey
5. Walla Walla
6. Intruxx
7. Hazey
8. Toes
9. Wyrd
10. Cocoa Hooves
11. JDNT


Glass Animals Live:

JUNE
13. Rough Trade in-store, London
14. Buffalo Bar, Cardiff
16. The Lantern (Colston 2), Bristol
18. Meltdown Festival, London (Paul Epworth & Wolf Tone Presents…)
20. Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds
21. Ruby Lounge, Manchester
23. Think Tank, Newcastle
25. Bungalows & Bears, Sheffield
19. Latitude Festival

SEPTEMBER
04. Bestival

'Zava' is released on June 9 via Wolf Tone/Caroline International.