Glass Animals: Zaba (2LP) [CAROLINE]

Why you'll love it

This 2LP set comes in a gatefold jacket with gold foil detailing, printed inner sleeves and a download code. Zaba has sold 600,000 equivalent copies worldwide, reached No. 12 in Australia and topped Billboard's Alternative New Artist chart after 64 weeks.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Gatefold jacket
• Gold foil detailing
• Printed inner sleeves
• Download card included
• Lyrics included

About the album

Most bands find their sound in a rehearsal room. Dave Bayley found his partly in a children's book, William Steig's The Zabajaba Jungle, and partly by recording the field near his house, rabbits chewing, cooking utensils and children's toys. The result is a humid, tropical, slow-burning psychedelic pop record that sounds like nothing else from 2014. Some songs lean on adventure novels too: "Toes" sets out to recreate the atmosphere of The Island of Doctor Moreau and Heart of Darkness. Before the album they had opened European shows for St. Vincent, Metronomy and Yeasayer, and Triple J airplay turned Australia into an early stronghold.

Glass Animals were the first act signed to Paul Epworth's Wolf Tone label, and Epworth served as executive producer while Bayley wrote and produced every song. "Flip" opens with a slow electronic build, "Black Mambo" carries pizzicato strings over xylophone, and "Gooey" became the slow-motion hit that kept the album climbing charts for years. Hip-hop basslines, R&B grooves and jungle percussion tie it all into one long, mellow drift.

Bayley recorded one final chorus in eight different voices to fake a choir, which is the sort of budgeting we can respect.

Also at Kops: more Glass Animals on vinyl · browse Alternative

Tracklist

Listen

On Wolf Tone / Caroline (cat# WOLFTONE001LP), the 2014 album.