Glass Animals ride the slow-burning ‘Heat Waves’ to Grammys

By MARK KENNEDY
AP Entertainment Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Hospitals aren’t usually incubators of great music, but in the case of English indie-pop band Glass Animals, one member’s medical emergency led to a breakout album and a Grammy nomination. Drummer Joe Seaward was struck by a truck while riding his bike. Dave Bayley, the quartet’s songwriter, singer and producer, spent long hours next to his friend in the hospital, reflecting. The album that emerged was the deeply personal “Dreamland,” which boosted the band into the competition for a best new artist Grammy. The standout single is “Heat Waves,” a hypnotic, hazy tune that honors a departed friend whose birthday brings grief each passing June.