Late January is hardly the time you’d expect a song called “Heat Waves” to top the charts. But that’s precisely what happened for British psychedelic pop band Glass Animals, whose hazy, bass-heavy anthem reached No. 1 on the Top 40 radio chart.
Like many recent pop hits, the appetite for “Heat Waves” has been driven in large part by Spotify and TikTok, with many fans recreating the song’s do-it-yourself style music video.
The original music video was filmed by Bayley’s neighbors at the height of quarantine using their smartphones, as he wandered the streets of East London with a wagon. Much like the crests and troughs of an actual wave, “Heat Waves” begins on a high and falls into despair, before rising up again for a hopeful, optimistic finish.
Dave Bayley of Glass Animals tells Billboard:
“I think people do like a bit of familiarity when there’s a bit of like, discomfort in the world. And I think maybe with [‘Heat Waves’] — the song is about nostalgia and the past, and remembering people and missing people. And I think through the last couple years, and still now, people have been missing their loved ones. And not everyone’s been able to just go visit their parents, or visit their best friend. It’s been quite difficult to do that… that’s my hunch as to why people have gravitated towards this song a little bit.”
This song is without a doubt a great track that offers a tug on the old heartstrings. Watch the official video for “Glass Animals:”
To heighten the listening experience further, I’ve also included this version of the song done in haunting spatial audio. Shared on Youtube by the ubiquitous 8D Tunes, whom is turning out some stunning sounds for your spatial audio pleasures. It’s dizzying how the music and lyrics play with the listener in this format. It’s sure to hit you, I’m just not sure at what direction to expect it from when it does hit. Enjoy!