Instead of the typical pseudo-definitive ranking of the “Best Albums of 2016,” this December we’re trying something different. The Rutgers Review is bringing you 31 days of our writers’ favorite albums this year, from internationally anticipated releases to local debuts to a few guilty pleasures, without caring what critics have had to say.
Some say that creating your second album is the hardest. Artists have to reaffirm fans of their first album’s (relative) success by releasing something that sounds congruent with the debut, while considering making something new in order to elevate their music and their reputation.
With their sophomore effort How to be a Human Being, the follow up to 2014’s Zaba, Glass Animals have released an album that is somehow both immediately reminiscent of the first, reaffirming their status as psychedelic indie pop darlings, while showing off a level of diversity and emotional depth not present on their debut.
The first song, “Life Itself,” starts off with a rapid familiarity, quickly layering nostalgic jungle beats with lead singer Dave Bayley’s signature crooning, catapulting the listener so far back into the productional waves of the first record that you may just, for a split second, think you’re listening to one of its secret unreleased tracks. Then, suddenly you hear the lyrics; gone are the fantastical, children’s story-esque words you remember from Zaba. In their place comes the biting tongue of a cruel reality, telling tales of a woman with mental health issues, mothers abandoning their children, and the heart wrenchingly powerful finale, “Agnes,” that hints at the drug-fueled suicide of a close friend. When it all comes together, the result is an 11-track emotional journey that, for the more fervent listener, digests like a slow descent into the fucked up psyches of characters that feel all too real.
The lyrics aren’t the only place where the band has grown, as musically the record is drastically more complex and eclectic than before. Take “Season 2 Episode 3,” for example. A wistful, chiptune influenced R&B jingle, the song evokes memories of eating cereal on a Saturday morning, watching old cartoons and playing NES. Now, compare it to the wildly different “Poplar St.,” which weaves a story of an older woman seducing a teenage boy that is so morbid, it would make Kevin Spacey’s character from American Beauty blush. The track starts with a Red Hot Chili Peppers style guitar riff, and slowly builds until its rock infused climax.
With How to be a Human Being, Glass Animals have delivered a masterpiece, and a lesson on how to keep sounding fresh while not abandoning the noise that made them famous in the first place. The only pitfall now is how they’ll up the ante the next time around.
by: Charles Gare
This review originally appeared in print in Volume 52 Issue 1, September/October 2016.