Glass Animals‘ “Heat Waves” has racked up more than a billion streams on Spotify, which means the group will soon be receiving their Spotify billion-play award. The plaque kind of looks like a bowl and in fact, many recipients have eaten food out of their awards. Glass Animals’ Dave Bayley says he’s got plans to do the same.
“I haven’t gotten it yet, but I will definitely eat cereal out of it,” Dave tells ABC Audio. “And…I’m actually doing this thing where I’m trying to design my own cereal at the moment, so I’m going to eat that out of it!”
In addition to notching a billion streams, “Heat Waves” also topped Spotify’s Global Top 50 Chart, as well as Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart. On that chart, “Heat Waves” is the first #1 in eight years to be written, produced and performed by a single artist. Most hits these days have multiple writers —Justin Bieber‘s “Peaches” has 11, for example — so why did Dave go it alone for “Heat Waves?”
“With this record, I did want to do something very personal — way more personal than anything I’ve ever done before,” Dave says of Dreamland, the album that includes “Heat Waves.” “I think I’m quite a shy person and I’m not very good at being very open. And it seemed like the…only way to do it was to do a lot of it on my own.”
Dave notes that he’s always preferred working solo.
“I remember doing the first album, I sang under a blanket because I didn’t want anyone to see me!” he tells ABC Audio. “I was really scared, even though it was just me and my friend in the room. It’s easier for me to kind of dig deeper if I’m on my own.”
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