Dork
  • Music News
    • Latest News
    • Album Release Schedule
  • Features
    • Features & Interviews
    • Artist Guides
    • In Photos
  • New Music
    • Hype
    • Hype News
    • Hype Features & Interviews
    • Hype Reviews
  • Playlists
    • Playlists
    • Dork Playlist
    • The Cut
    • Hype
      • Cover Story
      • Hype Playlist
  • Reviews
    • Album & EP Reviews
    • Live Reviews
  • Radio
    • Home
    • Shows
      • Down With Boring
    • Playlist
    • Listen Again
    • Podcast
      • Apple Podcasts
      • Spotify
      • Google Podcasts
      • Stitcher
      • aCast
      • TuneIn
  • Magazine
    • Latest Issue
    • Back Issues
    • Print Subscriptions
    • Print + Digital Subscriptions
  • Shop
  • Supporters
    • Support Dork
    • Supporter Only Content
    • Digital Library
HTML5 RADIO PLAYER PLUGIN WITH REAL VISUALIZER powered by Sodah Webdesign Dexheim
Dork
  • Music News
    • Latest News
    • Album Release Schedule
  • Features
    • Features & Interviews
    • Artist Guides
    • In Photos
  • New Music
    • Hype
    • Hype News
    • Hype Features & Interviews
    • Hype Reviews
  • Playlists
    • Playlists
    • Dork Playlist
    • The Cut
    • Hype
      • Cover Story
      • Hype Playlist
  • Reviews
    • Album & EP Reviews
    • Live Reviews
  • Radio
    • Home
    • Shows
      • Down With Boring
    • Playlist
    • Listen Again
    • Podcast
      • Apple Podcasts
      • Spotify
      • Google Podcasts
      • Stitcher
      • aCast
      • TuneIn
  • Magazine
    • Latest Issue
    • Back Issues
    • Print Subscriptions
    • Print + Digital Subscriptions
  • Shop
  • Supporters
    • Support Dork
    • Supporter Only Content
    • Digital Library
  • Album & EP Reviews

Glass Animals – How To Be A Human Being

  • Dork
  • August 25, 2016
Label:
Released:
Rating:

If ‘Zaba’ established the group’s knack for unshakable hooks, ‘How To Be A Human Being’ sees that reinvigorated.

‘Album’ of ‘the Week’

Glass Animals - How To Be A Human Being

Label: Caroline Records
Released: August 26th 2016
Rating: ★★★★

Venturing out of the jungle and onto familiar streets, Glass Animals’ second record is a far cry from the otherworldly nature of their debut. Each track the soundscape to a train of thought, the album is an intricately woven exploration of – you guessed it – ‘How To Be A Human Being’, Delve deep enough and the eleven tracks encapsulate everything from love, lust, and loss, through to outright peculiarity, all wrapped up in rhythms and grooves purpose made to keep the body moving.

If ‘Zaba’ established the group’s knack for unshakable hooks, ‘How To Be A Human Being’ sees that reinvigorated. Lead single ‘Life Itself’ wears it’s eccentricities with pride, grabbing listeners at the hips and swaying with a resounding confidence into the inscrutable nature of what makes us tick. ‘Pork Soda’ runs with a similar momentum, paralysed cries transformed into an instantly addictive chorus.

Take note of what’s being sung, and the whole record is deceptively dark. Whether it’s the haunted lament of ‘Mama’s Gun’ or the youthful reflections of ‘Poplar St’, the album runs with an undercurrent that verges on the sinister. The rising discord of ‘The Other Side Of Paradise’ meticulously depicts slow motion panic rising in the instant a bullet hits its target.

Lifting these intense narratives out of the shadow is the outfit’s characteristic brand of alt-pop. ‘Youth’ might be rooted somewhere in despair, but ringing with hope along breezy refrains whilst melodies sprawl in sun-kissed delight, the weight of the words couldn’t feel further away. Similarly, the lingering chorus cries of ‘Agnes’ land as if from the heavens, an instant anthem primed for stadium sized sing alongs. Bittersweet yet completely euphoric, the track embodies the dichotomy of everything this record is.

Shining a light behind the closed doors of everyday life, ‘How To Be A Human Being’ is an inwards exploration of the world that exists right in front of you every day. All you’ve got to do is open your eyes to it. Jessica Goodman

You May Also Like
View Post
  • Features

Fall Out Boy: “Going deep with people that care feels so much more important than going wide”

  • March 24, 2023
View Post
  • Features

Sabrina Carpenter: Pop hits

  • March 22, 2023
View Post
  • Music News

Bimini shares first music of 2023 with ‘Rodeo’

  • March 25, 2023
Latest issue
Latest
    • Music News
    Bimini shares first music of 2023 with ‘Rodeo’
    • Music News
    Ed Sheeran has dropped his new single, ‘Eyes Closed’ – watch
    • Music News
    MAY-A has shared a new single, ‘Your Funeral’
    • Music News
    BLOXX are back with a new EP, and early teaser-track ‘Television Promises’
    • Music News
    boygenius have announced a few global listening events, plus a Banquet out-store show

Subscribe to our newsletter

Get pop nonsense to your inbox.

Dork
  • Contact
  • Jobs
  • Privacy
© 2016-2021 The Bunker Publishing Ltd

Input your search keywords and press Enter.