In 2020, there was no escaping Glass Animals. They released a smash hit with “Heat Waves” and released their third studio album “Dreamland”. They received critical acclaim for the record. After breaking out in 2020, there was radio silence for years until they announced their new album “I Love You So F***ing Much”, which was released on July 19, 2024.
As a huge fan of the Glass Animals, I was excited about this album and counted the days until I could hear it, but at the same time I was nervous because they had big shoes to fill after “Dreamland”.
This album focuses on looking up at the stars with a space theme, dealing with all aspects of love: the good, the bad and the ugly.
The album starts with “Show Pony” which contains every Glass Animals song ever made, with cliches about meeting a girl, falling in love and betrayal. It follows the same beat and sound as most of the songs they make, which is fine, but it felt like they were trying to use the same classic Glass Animals formula here. In my opinion, it didn’t work.
We take quite a turn with “whatthehellishappening” which starts with those words, followed by being thrown into the trunk of a 1999 Corolla. The best way I can describe this song is by the title, and that’s exactly what they were going for. You’re not sure what’s happening, but it’s clearly some sort of kidnapping. My favorite part of this song is the abrupt ending with the sound of a trunk slamming shut as Dave Bayley utters the words “caught me off guard.” The song ends with you saying the title to yourself again. The beat is solid and the narration is great, making for a solid second track.
Another notable track is the single they released with the album announcement, “Creatures in Heaven,” which I think is by far the strongest track on the album. This song is about being present in the moment and enjoying love as it happens, a message we all need to hear sometimes. Bayley is phenomenal as always, with a solid beat and an exceptional, catchy chorus, this song hits on all levels.
Overall, this album has some solid, catchy tracks, but at times it’s underwhelming. None of these tracks jump out at me, even though I’m comparing it to an album of classics like “Heat Waves,” “Tangerine,” and “Tokyo Drifting,” but that’s no excuse. I didn’t like the space theme as much as I thought I would, and having half the songs blend into each other didn’t help with that either. I did like some tracks, particularly “whatthehellishappening” and “Creatures in Heaven,” but that’s because they were noticeably different from each other. There were moments when I looked at my phone while listening to this album and thought, “Wait, the song changed?” That’s the story of this album.
