For one of the coolest bands on the planet, Glass Animals are refreshingly devoid of rock star ego.

Their song Gooey was the second-most shared viral tune on Spotify last year, they have conquered the charts in America and Australia and regularly attract thousands of people to their gigs and festival shows. Yet here, on home turf, upstairs in the Zodiac room at the O2 Academy, the Jericho lads seem genuinely moved by their reception.

“I say this a lot, but I think we should play Oxford more!” says frontman Dave Bayley. “It’s only down the road from our home.”

He’s right, of course. While other local bands have toiled away for years, Dave and bandmates Drew MacFarlane, Edmund Irwin- Singer and Joe Seaward — who bonded over a love of soul, rock & roll and R’n’B while studying at St Edward’s School — seem almost to have parachuted into the big time fully-formed. And what form!

That shared love of soul shines through, with Bayley’s languid vocals suggesting lazy days lying on tropical beaches. His narcoleptic delivery is backed by gentle trip-hoppy beats, tribal rhythms and gathering guitars which nod respectfully towards local predecessors Foals and Radiohead.

Bayley describes the band’s sound as “hip-hop holding a pineapple” and that’s as good a description as any for their heady cocktail of rock, soul and electronica. It’s a delicious sound which warms the body and tingles the brain — the musical equivalent of a hot stone massage. It seems appropriate that Bayley is a qualified neuroscientist.

From the gentle opening chimes and strings of new single Black Mambo, through crowd pleasers Psylla, Gooey and Toes, we are taken on a dreamy ride which stretches from somnambulistic to epic — a road movie directed by Dr Seuss.

The breadth of their range is reflected in the diversity of the audience — with the band’s parents joining the party (Dave even wishing his mum a happy birthday).

Things may have happened quickly for Oxford’s hippest new band, but on tonight’s evidence, they are no flash in the pan. Expect these slow-burning stars are set to shine very brightly indeed. Let’s hope they remember to play here too.