Back in January, I wrote about a little known band called Animal Kingdom and their insanely catchy single, ‘Strange Attractor’.  Soon after, that song became a huge hit and Animal Kingdom officially became a “buzz band”.  With all the radio play and blog attention that single received, the trio got booked to play Lollaplooza and Outside Lands this summer, but there was still very little information out there about this mysterious South London band or when we could hear more from them.

Well, wonder no more.  This week their full length album, The Looking Away, was finally released in the US and because I love HelloGiggles readers the most, I was able to score a full-album stream for you to enjoy right here before you go out and buy it yourself.  Yes, the entire record that just came out on Tuesday and yes, you can listen for free as many times as you like.  Ah, the benefits of being a dedicated Giggler.

I also caught up with Richard, Hamish and Geoff in London for a quick interview in order to give you guys a little more insight into what is sure to be your new favorite band.  Check out what the lads had to say and then give The Looking Away a long hard listen just below and let me know what you think.  Don’t forget, after you’ve fallen in love with it here – go support Animal Kingdom and buy the album here.

 

5 QUESTIONS FOR ANIMAL KINGDOM

Where are you guys right now and what are you up to now that your record is out in the US and you aren’t on tour yet?

“Hello! Right now we’re suffering from last night’s celebrations! We had a little party for the records release so we’re all a bit frazzled! In general, though, we’re in London getting all the new tunes ready for touring – we’ll be over in the summer so will have a bunch of dates up soon. We recorded our debut album out in Seattle, and did a bit of recording with Steve Albino in Chicago, but we’ve not had the chance to tour out in America before, so we’re buzzing about having the opportunity to come out and play to you guys and see more of the country.”

You are slated to play both Lollapalooza and Outside Lands this year – are you more nervous or excited to take the stage at such huge iconic American summer festivals? Any other bands in those lineups you are super psyched to see?

“Just excited at the moment – but I’m sure there’ll be a few nerves as we’re about to go on!  There’s tons of bands that I’d like to see at both of them, but I think we’re going to have to leave fairly soon after to get to the next day’s show!   If we could stick around, I’d love to see Neil Young, Jack White, Justice, Sigur Ros, Granddaddy, Franz Ferdinand… Could go on and on with that list, but it would make for a bit of boring interview!”

Were you at all aware or concerned that naming your first single, ‘Strange Attractor’ would make for some really interesting/terrifying internet searches when people went looking for “Animal Kingdom Strange Attractor” on Google?

“Ha! You know what, I didn’t combine the two on Google until we read your blog saying about that – and then promptly disappeared down an Internet wormhole for 20 minutes! Yeah, some pretty mental stuff on there. Hope you haven’t still got any of those images still scorched on your retinas!”

That first single made huge waves over here but we didn’t know much else about you guys…now that the full album The Looking Away has been released in the US, what do you want American listeners to know about you three?

“Well, there’s three of us – Rich, Geoff and Hamish. I met the guys through a mutual friend at art college. This is our second record – we recorded it in London with David Kosten, who’s a genius. We write and rehearse in a church in Crouch End. Hamish has fingers that look somewhere between sausages & tree frog digits, which is useful for bass. Geoff can identify many different types of birds  from their song alone (this is not really of any use to the band) and me… I know all of the words to that Bon Jovi song from Young Guns II – a talent all lead singers should have!”

Are you aware of just how much American girls love a British accent and do you plan to use that to your advantage when you play shows here this summer?

“We’ll have to do more talking between songs then!”