Music Appreciation
Glass Animals formed in Oxford, England, with lineup including frontman Dave Bayley, drummer Joe Seaward, guitarist/keyboardists Drew MacFarlane and Edmund Irwin-Singer. They built a reputation for blending indie rock with electronic, psychedelic, and experimental touches, first establishing momentum with albums Zaba (2014) and How to Be a Human Being (2016).
By the time they worked on their third album Dreamland, Bayley had refined his skills as songwriter and producer, and the group leaned more into personal lyricism and pop sensibility. “Heat Waves,” released on June 29, 2020 as a single from Dreamland, layers dreamy instrumentation with emotional vulnerability.
The lyrics express longing, regret, and the bittersweet ache of loving someone you can’t preserve. Bayley has said it’s among his more personal songs — reflecting that at certain times of year he finds himself thinking of someone he misses.
Musically it combines subtle R&B and psychedelic-pop influences, with filtered textures, pulsing rhythms, and gradual builds that mirror emotional ebb and flow.
The music video, directed by Colin Read, was shot during the COVID-19 lockdown with a modest setup: many East London residents filmed scenes using their phones in their neighborhoods. In the video, Bayley drags a cart loaded with vintage televisions across desolate streets, eventually arriving at a stage where the other band members appear inside the screens — a metaphor for musical connection during social isolation.
Bayley described the video as “a love letter to live music” and to the culture and togetherness often taken for granted before the pandemic.
Sources:
Wikipedia
https://songexploder.net/glass-animals
https://northerntransmissions.com/glass-animals-share-video-for-heat-waves
https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2020/07/02/glass-animals-heat-waves-colin-read/65484
https://www.udiscovermusic.com/news/glass-animals-heat-waves-video
https://www.reddit.com/r/glassanimals/comments/149ylz2/heat_waves/
https://www.reddit.com/user/jetblackheartt/comments/vd1qif/heat_waves_by_glass_animals_analysis_happy_middle