Your Love (Déjà Vu)

“Your Love (Déjà Vu)” (also known as "Palm Mute") is a song by the British indie rock band Glass Animals. It is the ninth song on their third studio album, Dreamland, and was released on February 19th, 2020. Your Love (Déjà Vu) is described by band frontman Dave Bayley as a “conflicted booty-call anthem,” and is about toxic relationships that you know are bad for you but can’t seem to cut off.

Background
The song first made its live debut during Glass Animals' comeback show at The Bullingdon in late 2019 where the setlist called it “Palm Mute”. Fans in attendance reported that the band requested for them not to post any videos of this performance online as they were still a bit rusty. They honored the request.

Your Love (Déjà Vu) was confirmed to be a single from Glass Animals' upcoming third album, Dreamland, before the album was officially announced.

Meaning
Speaking to Annie Mac during the song’s premiere on BBC Radio 1’s Future Sounds, the band’s lead singer and songwriter Dave Bayley explained that he has recently made a major shift from the band’s usual abstract lyrics to more personal ones. He went on to explain that Your Love is about a dysfunctional relationship and stated:

“[E]veryone’s got relationships, not necessarily romantic ones, in their lives and they know that that person is kind of bad; it’s an unhealthy relationship – but you keep letting that person back into your life. Either because you think it’s going to change, or because something deeper, darker – you’re addicted to the chaos of that relationship. That’s what this is about – being addicted to the mess.”

Naturally, much of this interview focused on the elephant in the room: drummer Joe Seaward’s life-threatening cycling accident which left him unable to walk or speak–much less play drums–for over a year. His injuries forced Glass Animals to cancel all scheduled tour dates and take an extended hiatus. Initially, the band stayed with him for several weeks. Eventually as Joe’s healing progressed Dave went to the United States where he worked on some solo and collaborative writing and producing projects. He said that working with hip-hop artists who tended to write very personal lyrics inspired him to take a more personal approach to songwriting as well. Thus, the incident that threatened to destroy the band ended up being a catalyst for creative change.

Lyrics