''How to Be a Human Being'' is the second studio album by English

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

group

Glass Animals Glass Animals are an English indie pop band formed in Oxford in 2010. Founded and led by singer, songwriter, and producer Dave Bayley, the group also features his childhood friends Joe Seaward, Ed Irwin-Singer and Drew MacFarlane. Bayley wrote ...

. It was released on 26 August 2016 by Wolf Tone and

Caroline International Caroline may refer to: People *Caroline (given name), a feminine given name * J. C. Caroline (born 1933), American college and National Football League player * Jordan Caroline (born 1996), American (men's) basketball player Places Antarctica * ...

in Europe, and

Harvest Records Harvest Records is a British-American record label belonging to Capitol Music Group, originally created by EMI in 1969. History Harvest Records was created by EMI in 1969 to market progressive rock music, and to compete with Philips' Vertigo ...

in the United States. The album generally favourable reviews from music critics, who complimented its "sense of wonder" and "immediate impression", but felt it was somewhat premature. There are a total of 11 songs on the track listing, along with 11 characters illustrated on the cover art. Each song, along with its unique personality and quirks, represents a person on the album. The album was nominated for the 2017

Mercury Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the B ...

Background

Following the release of their debut studio album '' Zaba'', Glass Animals began an aggressive tour which saw them play over 140 concerts in Europe, Australia, the United States and Mexico. They appeared at

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbur ...

, Falls Music Festival and Southbound in 2014,

Coachella Coachella may refer to: * Coachella, California * Coachella Canal, in California * Coachella (festival), an annual music and arts festival in California * "Coachella – Woodstock in My Mind", a 2017 song by Lana del Rey See also

* Coachell ...

, Wakarusa,

Bonnaroo The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Since its first year in 2002, it has been held at what is now Great Stage Park on a farm in M ...

, Firefly,

again, Lollapalooza,

Osheaga The Osheaga Music and Arts Festival (french: Festival musique et arts Osheaga) is a multi-day indie music festival in Montreal, Quebec, that is held every summer at Parc Jean-Drapeau on Île Sainte-Hélène. The festival takes place on six stages ...

and Reading and Leads in 2015, and the

Forecastle Festival The Forecastle Festival is a three-day music, art, activism festival held annually in Louisville, Kentucky. The festival was founded in 2002 as a small gathering of local musicians in Tyler Park, and steadily grew into a national attraction that ...

in 2016. ''How to Be a Human Being'' was simultaneously announced with the release of "Life Itself" and its respective music video. The foursome toured Australia for their second time, before they returned to North America for the album's release. Four days after the album was released, the band appeared on '' Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', their third appearance on primetime television. The band wrote 11 songs based on 11 different characters, many of which were inspired by people they met and stories they were told during their travels while promoting ''Zaba''. Each character was portrayed on the album cover, and some appeared in music videos for their respective songs. Among the actors portraying the characters were Brock Brenner, Dorian Hampton, Camila Ivera, Pat Janssen and Heidi Kaufman.

Commercial performance

The album made a debut on US charts with first week sales of 14,575 copies, with 10,117 being pure album sales.

Track listing

Notes * "Premade Sandwiches" is stylized " remade Sandwiches * On CD copies of the album, "Premade Sandwiches" is put at the end of the track "Cane Shuga" instead of being its own track

Personnel

Glass Animals * Dave Bayley – vocals, programming,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

(all tracks), guitar (1, 2, 4, 5, 8–10), percussion (1–5, 8–11); keyboards, synthesizer (1, 3–5, 8–11); art direction, design * Drew MacFarlane – programming (1, 3–11), percussion (1–5, 8–11), keyboards, synthesizer (1, 3–5, 8–11), additional vocals (3, 8), guitar (4, 5, 9, 10), piano (11) * Edmund Irwin-Singer – programming (1, 3–11), keyboards (1, 3–5, 8–11), percussion (1–5, 8–11); piano, synthesizer (1, 3–5, 8–11) * Joe Seaward – drums, percussion (1–5, 8–11); additional vocals (4), programming (6, 7) Additional personnel *

Tom Coyne Tom Coyne may refer to: * Tom Coyne (writer), American writer and professor * Tom Coyne (broadcaster) (1930–2015), British television presenter * Tom Coyne (music engineer) (1954–2017), American mastering engineer * Thomas Coyne (cricketer) ( ...

– mastering * David Wrench – mixing (1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 11) * Matt Wiggins – mixing (2, 4, 6, 7, 10),

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

(all tracks) * Riley MacIntyre – engineering assistance * Marta Salogni – mixing assistance * Mat Cook – art direction, design * Neil Krug – photography * Charlie Seaward – flute (5) *

Paul Epworth Paul Richard Epworth (born 25 July 1974) is an English record producer, songwriter, musician, and remixer. He has worked with artists including Adele, Florence and the Machine, Rihanna, and Maxïmo Park, among many others. He is a member o ...

– executive production

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2016 albums Glass Animals albums Music in Oxford Concept albums Caroline Records albums Harvest Records albums