Dreamland the most recent record from Glass Animals was released only 3 months after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Worldwide, people were confined to their homes, with no end in sight. With touring off the table for the foreseeable future, bandleader Dave Bayley had to get creative when it came to promoting this amazing new record. He had to work within the constraints the world had handed him.
Back in May 2020, even before the record came out, Dave took on the daunting task of filming a fairly technically involved music video himself, not only filming it, but setting up all the equipment, and lighting, and appearing in the video himself. The equipment was shipped to his home with instructions on how to set everything up. You can see the whole video here. The first half is the video itself, and the second half shows the impressive build-out.
Cut to early 2021. The world is still battling a global pandemic, but vaccines are rolling out in some countries and there’s at least a flicker of light at the end of the tunnel. That being said, people are still doing their part to keep some distance, and Dave worked with artist/director Max Siedentopf to create this absolutely nuts video for the newest single from Dreamland, “Space Ghost Coast to Coast”. Max directed Dave’s moves from his apartment, while Dave stood in the park outside and took direction via prompts in his headphones. From there, Max took these moves and digitized them, turning the world outside his apartment into an insanely odd civilization filled with mutant dancing Daves. It brings to mind the video work of David Lewandowski or Cyriak. It’s an incredible music video to go with an incredible song from a record that keeps on giving.
Listen and/or buy some Glass Animals stuff here.
