Framed by Tetris-esque L-shaped lights, a large mirrorball illuminates three artificial cacti. A small pineapple sits atop an amplifier, a subtle reference to the lyrics from a song called “Pork Soda.” As smoke seeps across the stage, mesmerizing green lights flicker as four silhouetted figures slither into view. Either those magic mushrooms are kicking in, or you’re about to witness the musical genius and visual spectacle of rising British psych-pop stars Glass Animals (perhaps both).
That’s the kind of scene you can expect Sunday, when the world-beating road warriors kick off the U.S. tour promoting this year’s How to Be a Human Being LP at the Ryman, where the band makes its debut after playing Exit/In in 2014 and Marathon Music Works in 2015.
Bandmates Dave Bayley, Joe Seaward, Edmund Irwin-Singer and Drew MacFarlane are pushing the limits of artistry, developing their current stage show for weeks, and are ready to finally “make a mess of it.” The band has a contagious energy that is somehow both stimulating and ambient at the same time.
“It’s a little bit different from the record when we play live,” frontman Bayley tells the Scene, speaking by phone. “Heavier, faster and harder and hopefully bigger. We’re going to remix things, and hopefully it’ll be a bit of a dance party. We might try some stuff we haven’t played before.”
Inspired by Bayley’s field recordings of people the band met on tour, the concept album How to Be a Human Being revolves around a cast of characters featured on the album artwork. Those 11 characters — among them Chuck the Scientist, Hipster Girl, Boy With Camera, Guy in Speedos and Basketball Player — create a bizarre family portrait.
“We spent a lot of time after that first record going out and meeting people,” Bayley explains. “Sometimes someone’s voice was really interesting, and I’d hit record.”
With its hypnotizing tribal heartbeat, the album transports listeners into an intergalactic arcade game. Like any great storybook, Human Being is the kind of LP you can sit back and take in from beginning to end as it reveals new layers, track by track.
“Your hair stands on end a little bit, a bit of tingle in your fingers,” Bayley says. “When a melody pops in your head, and it’s catchy but no one can explain why, it’s that magic no one can explain.”
While some elements of the album are autobiographical, the lyrics are mainly inspired by strangers and the stories they told under a shroud of anonymity. From taxi drivers to random revelers at parties, people poured out their hearts to Bayley.
“A lot of people tell you stories that make you feel really strange combinations of emotions that you’ve never felt before,” the singer recalls. “Someone told me a story and it made me cry but also feel optimistic. The person telling me the story was crying and laughing the whole time, it was really bizarre. I’ve had to take those sentiments and create a new character.”
Such sentiments inspired the 11 characters inhabiting the album’s 11 tracks. Bayley became obsessed with developing their backstories — from what they ate to what they wore and what music they liked. Then Bayley and his bandmates composed groovy, experimental soundtracks for those stories. A mad scientist with synthesizers, with melodic chaos Bayley plays puppet master for his characters. The lyrics are bizarre, at times almost nonsensical, but they represent raw facets of humanity. “Season 2 Episode 3,” arguably the album’s best song, is about an old couch-potato housemate of Bayley’s who survived on a steady diet of video games and junk food.
“I thought, ‘Oh, he’s just sitting there eating all this white stuff,’ ” Bayley recalls. “I created the character taking some ideas from that situation.”
The stories on Human Being don’t just stop when the last note dies out. The band is inviting fans to find “more angles and more ways into the music,” to expand on the characters. Chuck Rogers — the central character of opening track “Life Itself” — now has his own 8-bit-style website. In it, you can play the games Chuck has created, read his short novel on ray guns and check out his inventions, like Shower in a Can, Boom Bra, Dog-Boombox (aka Subwoofer) and the Palmbrella. The band plans to develop each character further, with more album-character-centric websites to come.
So if you’re spending this Thanksgiving weekend in town, away from family (or perhaps worse, with family), don’t sweat: Come out and dance at the Mother Church with Glass Animals and their cast of characters.
Email music@nashvillescene.com
