Brit Beat: Glass Animals’ Manager on Where the Group Goes Next; Korda Marshall on Returning to Mushroom
variety.comMark Sutherland There’s only one thing rarer than a March heatwave in the U.K. – and that’s a British alternative group topping the U.S.
charts.So Glass Animals’ slow-burn ascent to the Billboard Hot 100 summit with “Heat Waves” represents a highly unusual double whammy.
The song took a record 59 weeks to hit the top and, having spent three weeks there to date, is now the longest-running American No.
1 by a British group since the Spice Girls’ “Wannabe” in 1997.The band’s manager, Amy Morgan of September Management, puts the success down to the band’s work across three albums before “Heat Waves” became a single.“They’d built a real world and a real fanbase for themselves,” Morgan tells Variety. “Their live trajectory and the amount of touring they’d done meant they have an incredibly activated and engaged community around them – and that was really where all of this started.” Remixes, sync placements, TikTok trends, touring and, eventually, radio play that spread out from the band’s alternative stronghold kept the song building, with a nomination for best new artist at this weekend’s Grammys likely to bring even more attention.“Getting that recognition is a real big moment for them, because they’ve always been outsiders and underdogs,” says Morgan. “At the core of all this, there’s a really brilliant song that has connected with people during a very difficult time.
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