walking upstream…
Glass Animals
photo: legoktm · cc by-sa 4.0 ↗Glass Animals
sourcesWikipedia2 · American Songwriter · NME
Glass Animals formed in Oxford in 2010 around frontman, songwriter, and producer Dave Bayley, who spent part of his childhood in Texas steeped in 1990s and 2000s hip-hop and R&B before the band came together in England. Their music threads humid, psychedelic textures and off-kilter, sample-minded production through supple pop songcraft, from the debut 'Zaba' (2014) to the confessional 'Dreamland' (2020). The slow-burning single 'Heat Waves' became an unlikely global phenomenon, topping the Billboard Hot 100 in 2022 and making them one of the defining British crossover acts of their era.
the sound in question
2020
Heat WavesGlass Animals
walk the tributaries ↓
Dr. Dre1990s · West Coast hip-hop / G-funk / Gangsta rap
Bayley has described 1990s hip-hop production as foundational, recalling that hearing Dr. Dre for the first time made him feel that the music 'makes you feel like you can be anybody,' and he has said he resampled instruments through the kind of samplers Dre used when building Glass Animals' tracks. That producer's-ear approach — low rubbery bass, crisp programmed drums, and deliberate space around every sound — underpins the band's grooves far more than any guitar-band lineage.
listen: upstream & here
1999
Still D.R.E.Dr. Dre
2016
Life ItselfGlass Animals
listen forDrop the elastic bassline and clipped snare of Dr. Dre's 'Still D.R.E.' next to the lurching, hip-hop-built beat of 'Life Itself' — hear how Glass Animals swap rapping for melody but keep that same swung, sample-flip pocket driving the track.
Missy Elliott2000s · Hip hop / R&B / Neo soul
Bayley has repeatedly named Missy Elliott among his formative obsessions — 'I was obsessed with Missy Elliott!' — pointing to the futuristic, rhythm-first records she made with Timbaland as a model for treating the beat and the vocal as playful, elastic instruments. In Glass Animals' most overtly rap-facing moments you can hear that debt to her stuttering cadences and negative-space production.
listen: upstream & here
2001
Get Ur Freak OnMissy Elliott
2019
Tokyo DriftingGlass Animals
listen forPut Missy Elliott's skittering, percussion-flecked 'Get Ur Freak On' beside 'Tokyo Drifting' — both ride a sparse, hard-hitting beat with the voice bouncing in and out of the empty spaces, trading sung hooks for chanted, percussive delivery.
Pharrell Williams2000s · R&B / Hip-hop / Funk
Bayley has listed Pharrell and the Neptunes alongside Dr. Dre and Timbaland as the production dynasties he 'got all into,' and he has said the Glass Animals track 'Your Love (Déjà Vu)' was a deliberate tribute to those early-2000s Neptunes and Timbaland sounds. The link is in the sound design — bright bouncing synth stabs, minimal drum machines, and an airy falsetto floating over the top.
listen: upstream & here
2003
Frontin'Pharrell Williams
2020
Your Love (Déjà Vu)Glass Animals
listen forCue the crisp drum program and falsetto hook of Pharrell's 'Frontin'' before 'Your Love (Déjà Vu)' — listen for the same wide-open, synth-stab bounce and high, breathy vocal, Glass Animals' homage to the Neptunes' early-2000s R&B blueprint.