WHEN DRUMMER JOE SEAWARD WAS INVOLVED IN A TRAUMATIC ACCIDENT BACK IN 2018, THE FUTURE OF GLASS ANIMALS SEEMED UNCERTAIN. LESS THAN TWO YEARS LATER, HOWEVER, THE BAND ARE BACK WITH A NEW OUTLOOK, A THIRD ALBUM IN THE PIPELINE, AND A RENEWED SENSE OF OPTIMISM. WORDS: JENESSA WILLIAMS.
Animal Magnetism
D
ave Bayley has a lot to feel grateful for. Back in his native America, his band are about to play another night on their comeback tour, the same venues they visited on their first US trip. He's stocked up on his favourite canned cheese, and his bandmates are doing well. Life at the helm of Glass Animals is back on track, and if the hordes of fans camping outside overnight are anything to go by, they've been thoroughly missed.
"It's fucking crazy," he laughs. "We've been away for a minute, and you put tickets on sale never knowing if people will buy them. But it sells out in a couple of seconds, and you still have tons of extra people showing up on the night to try and get tickets on the door. People are so nice; we've been trying to get out there and hang out with people and thank them for camping out and waiting. It's been amazing, and really heart-warming especially for Joe's confidence. It just gets you excited for the rest of what's to come." The successful return of a beloved band is always a special moment, but its occurrence is not always a certainty, and until fairly recently, a new Glass Animals record was looking highly unlikely. While out riding his bike before a show in the summer of 2018, drummer Joe Seaward was hit by a truck, fracturing his skull and rendering him incapable of speech or movement. The rest of the tour was cancelled, and the band were brought to a standstill at the height of their success, beginning the slow but steady process of teaching Joe to walk, talk and drum again. Against all odds, however, he’s back behind the kit a mere 18 months later, learning to adjust to a new way of touring.
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