GO LONDON newsletter Bringing our city to your living room Enter your email address Continue Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in Register with your social account or click here to log in I would like to receive the best London offers and activities every week, by email Update newsletter preferences

Sitting in his home studio in Hackney, just out of two weeks’ quarantine and still a long way from his music life getting back to normal, Dave Bayley of Glass Animals is feeling optimistic. “Between me and the guys, we have a lot of ideas for how to keep things ticking — almost too many ideas,” he tells me. They include, as of next week, filling their website with downloadable music samples and images so that fans can make their own versions of Glass Animals songs and artwork. At the other end of the creative spectrum, the band have just begun selling two types of toilet roll in their online merch store, one dotted with the four Oxford school friends’ faces, the other printed with the words “Ass Glanimals”.

“I think everyone’s in an interesting headspace,” he continues. “Maybe the stress and the anxiety of all this, plus the isolation, could be quite healthy for people’s creativity in a weird way. Or maybe people have just run out of weed and started to be more productive.”

Through his webcam, the lockdown zone that the 30-year-old shares with his partner looks perfectly pleasant: plants similar to the giant palm trees that his band bring on tour, laptop, synthesizer, guitars, Mellotron, sofa, a little bit of garden. “You don’t need much to make music these days. I can do everything I need to do.”

Despite them looking like your typical floppy-haired indie band — drummer Joe Seaward, bassist Ed Irwin-Singer and guitarist/keyboardist Drew MacFarlane complete the group — the songs tend to originate in Bayley’s brain and often sit closer to dancey electronica and American R&B. He lived in the US until his mid-teens, first in Massachusetts, then Texas, and takes his inspiration from the studio whizzes, such as Timbaland and The Neptunes, that he grew up hearing on local rap radio. With his smooth falsetto and polished productions, I’d file his band somewhere between Hot Chip and Alt-J.

They haven’t had a proper hit yet, but soft-hearted early single Gooey is on 180 million Spotify plays and their reputation is growing. Their second album, How to be a Human Being, was named alongside Stormzy, Ed Sheeran and winner Sampha on the shortlist for the 2017 Mercury Prize (they lost their nominee’s trophy the same drunken night, if you wouldn’t mind keeping an eye out). Since then Bayley has spent time in LA writing and producing with big Americans including Khalid and 6lack.

Things to do at home to keep entertained during lockdown 8 show all Things to do at home to keep entertained during lockdown 1/8 Things to do at home to keep entertained during lockdown Jason Briscoe/Unsplash 2/8 Take part in a virtual workout class While gyms are shut for the foreseeable future, plenty are moving their classes online. Joe Wicks is also helping the nation stay fit from home while all this is going on, by hosting workouts on his Instagram page every morning at 9am for people to get involved with. It’s not all about mere calorie burning, though. Sadler’s Wells has announced plans to stream online dance classes – perfect if you’re up for trying something new during these strange times. The dance venue is launching its Digital Stage series from April 1, presenting performances alongside classes created with children and older people in mind. PA 3/8 Take part in a virtual pub quiz The pub seems to be one of the things Londoners are missing the most, after the UK’s boozers shut their doors last Friday. East London favourite The Pembury Tavern is here to help, hosting a virtual pub quiz via its Instagram page at 7pm every Monday evening and helping punters get the week off to a fun start. Brewdog is also getting in on the act, launching 102 virtual pubs. Each of them recreates one of the Brewdog pubs across the UK, hosting quizzes, virtual tastings and giveaways over the coming weeks. In fact, there are plenty of pub quizzes on. Chin chin! Getty Images 4/8 Stream a virtual concert James Blake is among the pop stars to launch their own virtual concerts, with the singer-songwriter sitting down at his piano to serenade listeners on Instagram this week. He promises there’ll be more to come too, so keep an eye out. Elsewhere, everyone from Keith Urban (with help from Nicole Kidman), to Christine and the Queens have posted performances online. Even if you missed them the first time around, they’re all still available to catch up on. Instagram/jamesblake 5/8 Try your hand at Taskmaster Dave’s Taskmaster has been doing its bit to alleviate boredom across the land this week. The show is setting people a series of challenges on Twitter using the #HomeTasking hashtag. The first task is to “throw a piece of A4 paper into a bin. Most spectacular throw wins,” with more to be announced throughout this week. Get involved, get creative and post videos using the hashtag to be in with a chance of getting on the leaderboard, making into the Taskmaster YouTube montage and maybe even getting on the show. UKTV 6/8 Escape with a good film With all this extra time available to people, there’s never been a better opportunity to discover new films. Take the opportunity to try out an underrated gem on Netflix and Amazon Prime, or discover a brand new streaming service like Disney+. Escapist classics can help to transport you across the world from the comfort of your sofa – check out our full list of recommendations here, from The Beach to The Darjeeling Limited. Even though there’s been a rush of film postponements over recent weeks, there are plenty of alternatives to the likes of James Bond and Mulan to check out and keep us entertained too, with a wealth of options available to film fans at the touch of a button. If you're totally at a loss over what film to choose, try out this random film generator. 7/8 Take part in an album listening party Even with coronavirus putting new album releases into doubt, there’s a lot for music fans to get involved in from home. The Charlatans’ Tim Burgess is teaming up with some of his buddies for a series of nostalgic album listening parties, welcoming the likes of Liam Gallagher and members of Franz Ferdinand and Blur for listening parties from 10pm on weekdays, starting from March 23. Getty Images 8/8 Try a takeaway from one of London’s top restaurants People can support London’s restaurant scene by ordering deliveries from a huge range of venues across the city. Read our full guide here, and if you're more in the mood for a drink, have a look at our rundown of drinks delivery options. If you’re looking for home cooking inspiration, some of the most celebrated chefs in London recently shared with us their self-isolation cooking recipes, made using long-lasting ingredients. 1/8 Things to do at home to keep entertained during lockdown Jason Briscoe/Unsplash 2/8 Take part in a virtual workout class While gyms are shut for the foreseeable future, plenty are moving their classes online. Joe Wicks is also helping the nation stay fit from home while all this is going on, by hosting workouts on his Instagram page every morning at 9am for people to get involved with. It’s not all about mere calorie burning, though. Sadler’s Wells has announced plans to stream online dance classes – perfect if you’re up for trying something new during these strange times. The dance venue is launching its Digital Stage series from April 1, presenting performances alongside classes created with children and older people in mind. PA 3/8 Take part in a virtual pub quiz The pub seems to be one of the things Londoners are missing the most, after the UK’s boozers shut their doors last Friday. East London favourite The Pembury Tavern is here to help, hosting a virtual pub quiz via its Instagram page at 7pm every Monday evening and helping punters get the week off to a fun start. Brewdog is also getting in on the act, launching 102 virtual pubs. Each of them recreates one of the Brewdog pubs across the UK, hosting quizzes, virtual tastings and giveaways over the coming weeks. In fact, there are plenty of pub quizzes on. Chin chin! Getty Images 4/8 Stream a virtual concert James Blake is among the pop stars to launch their own virtual concerts, with the singer-songwriter sitting down at his piano to serenade listeners on Instagram this week. He promises there’ll be more to come too, so keep an eye out. Elsewhere, everyone from Keith Urban (with help from Nicole Kidman), to Christine and the Queens have posted performances online. Even if you missed them the first time around, they’re all still available to catch up on. Instagram/jamesblake 5/8 Try your hand at Taskmaster Dave’s Taskmaster has been doing its bit to alleviate boredom across the land this week. The show is setting people a series of challenges on Twitter using the #HomeTasking hashtag. The first task is to “throw a piece of A4 paper into a bin. Most spectacular throw wins,” with more to be announced throughout this week. Get involved, get creative and post videos using the hashtag to be in with a chance of getting on the leaderboard, making into the Taskmaster YouTube montage and maybe even getting on the show. UKTV 6/8 Escape with a good film With all this extra time available to people, there’s never been a better opportunity to discover new films. Take the opportunity to try out an underrated gem on Netflix and Amazon Prime, or discover a brand new streaming service like Disney+. Escapist classics can help to transport you across the world from the comfort of your sofa – check out our full list of recommendations here, from The Beach to The Darjeeling Limited. Even though there’s been a rush of film postponements over recent weeks, there are plenty of alternatives to the likes of James Bond and Mulan to check out and keep us entertained too, with a wealth of options available to film fans at the touch of a button. If you're totally at a loss over what film to choose, try out this random film generator. 7/8 Take part in an album listening party Even with coronavirus putting new album releases into doubt, there’s a lot for music fans to get involved in from home. The Charlatans’ Tim Burgess is teaming up with some of his buddies for a series of nostalgic album listening parties, welcoming the likes of Liam Gallagher and members of Franz Ferdinand and Blur for listening parties from 10pm on weekdays, starting from March 23. Getty Images 8/8 Try a takeaway from one of London’s top restaurants People can support London’s restaurant scene by ordering deliveries from a huge range of venues across the city. Read our full guide here, and if you're more in the mood for a drink, have a look at our rundown of drinks delivery options. If you’re looking for home cooking inspiration, some of the most celebrated chefs in London recently shared with us their self-isolation cooking recipes, made using long-lasting ingredients.

The band were in the US recently and had to get home in a hurry. When worldwide restrictions on movement started being imposed, they were nine dates into a North American tour. They played the Troubadour in Hollywood on March 11, travelled to San Francisco, but had to quit before they took to the stage there. “You could see the flight prices going up and up. We took all our gear out of our trailer in the middle of the road, put it on a truck heading to a warehouse in Tennessee, and got on a plane two hours later. It was like a proper abort mission,” says Bayley.

Unfortunately, it was an “underplay” tour — where bands play venues smaller than they can usually fill to build buzz for new material — and didn’t get to the three bigger gigs at the end which were going to pay for the whole undertaking. “I think we’ve worked out a way of taking care of our crew, who are like family, which makes me really happy,” he says.

It’s actually the second tour they’ve had to drop suddenly. In July 2018, while cycling in Dublin, Seaward was hit by a lorry and suffered a fractured skull and broken leg. He needed operations on his brain and leg and lost the ability to speak for a while. “It was a really bad head injury. He was 50/50. But he lived. He was back at the drum kit a couple of months after the accident, almost before he started speaking. He’s one of those people who is just insanely determined. It was never an option for him not to come back and be even better than he was before.”

The abandoned 2020 tour was about getting Seaward gently back into live performing with smaller venues. However, almost four years since their last album, with two new songs appearing recently — a collaboration with Florida rapper Denzel Curry called Tokyo Drifting last November, and last month, the quirky Bollywood pop of Your Love (Déjà Vu) — there’s clearly a bigger comeback in the works.

The virus upheaval means Bayley now has to be cagey about plans. “Your Love was going to be the first single from the new… upcoming project,” he says. “I’m not meant to talk about it, but it’s obvious, isn’t it? Something’s coming. There was a master plan — almost an hour-by-hour thing of what we’re doing — and that’s all been chucked out the window.”

Describing the new music the band have already been playing on tour, he says he’s been writing from more of a personal perspective than ever before. On the previous album, he was telling stories of strangers he’d met on the road, apart from the ballad Agnes, which is about the death of a friend. He struggles to perform it live sometimes, he admits, but it is probably their best song, so it’s hardly surprising he might try to tap into that area again. “The new stuff is very personal, and I’m still a bit weird about it. I constantly feel quite selfish. Singing these songs the first couple of times, they really pulled on the nerves.”

They may not be heard in public again for a while yet, though. Instead, with bandmates scattered to their respective homes or with parents, he’s trying other things. He’s been recording cover versions and putting them on YouTube, putting a unique electronic spin on Lana Del Rey’s Young and Beautiful and Nirvana’s Heart-Shaped Box so far.

He did a home broadcast for the web channel Colors this week. Next he’s planning on doing a song with Arlo Parks, the 18-year-old poet and singer from London, over the phone. “The band thought about doing a live thing from four different places, but the energy of a live show comes from the people that aren’t on the stage,” he says. “There’s this unity and you can’t quite get that in another way.”

He adds: “I am really positive but also every once in a while, you have these flashes of doom, ‘Oh my God, the tour is f**ked. Is this new music going to be relevant when it comes out in a month, in a year, maybe two?’ And I have these flashes of panic about the whole music industry. Are festivals going to recover? Will people still be interested in going to see live music after all this?”

It will pass, he concludes, settling on spending more time co-writing with others remotely for now. “A lot of people have a bit of time now. There’s a lot of creative energy around and there’s going to be a lot more music made. People have ideas. It’s good.”

Your Love (Déjà Vu) is out now on Polydor; glassanimals.com will be relaunched on Wednesday.