The big arena-ready sounds of “Believer” and “Radioactive” earlier in their career have given way to murkier, smaller songs with electronic flourishes.įor “Mercury - Act 1,” the Dragons leaned on superstar producer Rick Rubin, who urged the band to go deeper into the darkness and not worry if what they found would alienate fans. Imagine Dragons - which includes guitarist Wayne Sermon, drummer Daniel Platzman and bassist Ben McKee - have always evolved their sound, but this, their fifth studio album, is a quite radical step. I certainly have not even begun to master it, especially being an introvert, but it is one of my greatest life goals.” “I want to grow as close as I can with those that I love, and that really requires being raw and honest. The deaths had the effect of reminding Reynolds how short life is, and he says he wants to make the most of the days he has left, staying present and vulnerable. He lost loved ones to cancer, including his business manager, an ex-girlfriend and his sister-in-law, which inspired “Wrecked.” He separated from wife Aja Volkman, but the couple reunited in late 2018 after a seven-month break and welcomed a fourth child, son Valentine, the next fall. The album was written over a three-year period and much happened in Reynolds' life. “I’m finding it hard to love myself,” he sings on ”My Life." On “Lonely,” he offers: “These days, I’m becoming everything I hate.” The song ”Dull Knives" has Reynolds' almost screaming in anguish: “Won’t someone please save my life?” and one song has the sing-along chorus: “It’s OK to be not OK.” The 13-track collection uses Reynolds' falsetto to great effect to explore different sonic landscapes, and his lyrics ache with a portrait of a man who has lost friends to cancer, had his personal life collapse and battled depression and addiction. “This record is primarily about taking action and rebuilding.”
I spent a lot of my time embracing that self-pity and wallowing in it,” he says from his home in Las Vegas. “In a lot of ways I felt like my foundation was completely ripped from under me over the last decade.
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