PAUL Epworth rarely misses a trick. The producer of choice from Adele to Florence + The Machine spotted Glass Animals at a gig in London. Thus ended singer Dave Bayley’s plans to go to medical school.

Bayley grew up in Texas, where he listened to hip hop, something that has inspired the band’s style. But you wouldn’t know it from opening track Life Itself which has become one of this summer’s indie anthems.

Nor is there any evidence in the is-it Wild Beasts? track Youth. Both songs are fine examples of how to be a human songwriter. Lyrically the album is similarly intriguing. Self-confessed sneaky recordings made by Bayley while on tour, this is a scrapbook of Glass Animals’ time spent on the road.

People say the strangest things when they don’t think they’re ever gonna see you again, Bayley says, and so begins this wonderfully eclectic collection of stories told with wit and maturity. Thank goodness Paul Epworth wasn’t washing his hair that night.