Imagine Dragons Goes Full Experimental with Reflections
Image Courtesy of WTYE
By Luis Zonenberg
Since the release of the two-act Mercury album, Imagine Dragons has been experimenting more and more with the style of their songs. Their previous album, Loom, served as the first one without the involvement of their drummer Daniel Platzman after he left to focus more on his career. The album served as a sunrise/sunset, so to speak, both marking the end of an era and the start of a new one.
The time spent together clearly had the band looking back on their career, especially after celebrating the tenth anniversary of their Smoke + Mirrors album. To commemorate this event, they released a new album from the vault that features 14 new demos originally recorded for Smoke + Mirrors. The track itself features numerous new songs, each with its own unique beat, for better or worse.
The first single from the album, Monica, starts with a slow rhythm, and Dan Reynolds’ low vocals help set an early tone for the song. It then transitions into a usual pop rhythm, with Reynolds’ vocals coming in hot with “I am not the one for you”. The lyrics detail a breakup with a girl named Monica, saying, “My intentions were good, but our chemistry was not that good”. The rhythm helps elevate the lyrics, with Reynolds’ vocals driving the story and capturing the listener’s attention.
Most of the songs in the album were very experimental, with The Ghost Intervention demo sounding like a warped techno beat. It combines classic orchestral tunes and scratchy techno beats before the bass kicks in and plays like a scratched vinyl recording in a haunted house attraction. While this style will certainly not appeal to everyone, it does help set it apart from their more forgettable songs with pretty safe rhythms and lyrics.
While The Ghost Intervention may have been more style-over-substance, there were a couple songs that did work with this new experimental approach. The demo track Black was a perfect marriage of story and vocals, with the lyrics themselves serving as a reflection on life and trying to recapture something from the past. The lyrics go on to describe how “When I look at my complexion, All I see is scars and shame”. The track may represent the album itself, since it reflects on the band’s career and how they looked back to their vault on the eve of their Smoke + Mirrors anniversary.
The real highlights in the album though were A-OK and My Car, with the latter being my personal favorite from the track. Its extremely catchy beat and amazing vocals make it so irresistible to listen to, with the song itself representing how eager we are to run away from life’s problems. The former is much more emotional, detailing the responsibilities of life as the slow beat and Reynold’s vocals make the song feel so much more relatable.
Not every song was a winner, though, with demos like Destroyed and Cowboy falling short of the rest of the bunch. Their abrupt endings make it difficult to remember the vocals or lyrics, with the beats ranging from 80s-style techno to harsher rhythms reminiscent of their single Dull Knives. These songs are far from terrible, and only stand out because the rest of the album is much more uniquely catchy.
While it may not reach the heights of Mercury, this new album compiles some old demos and remixes them in a refreshing way. The varying styles and Reynolds’ charming voice make them hard to ignore, ultimately serving as an eccentric celebration of their Smoke + Mirrors album. It may not win the band any new converts, but it is sure to entertain the hearts and minds of the devoted.
Rating: 8/10
