Imagine Dragons seemed to ‘Evolve’ with their previous album but it looks like they’re back to the ‘Origins’ of adequate indie pop with the 2018 follow-up.
The album opener, “Natural” is everything we would expect from the enormously popular indie pop band. It’s self-reflective, upbeat and has a big roaring chorus, making you wish you were watching them live at a festival rather than listening to them quietly in your bedroom. “Natural” is also their first single since the release of their 2017 album Evolve and is one of the strongest songs on the album.
Unfortunately, things start to go downhill from the second track onward. “Boomerang” is annoyingly samey and other than the slightly interesting rhythm from the percussion section, it echoes all of the overdone components of indie pop from the early 2010’s. ‘Machine’ is a little more palatable but still sounds more like an early One Direction track which is a shame, because they are supposed to be far more innovative.
When they do try and experiment, however, they sadly fail quite seriously. “Digital” tries to combine dubstep with their introspective lyrics and sickeningly upbeat vocals. The result is a disappointing mash up which sounds unattractively out of place in the album. It could be that the track goes down well live as it is upbeat and dancey. On the album though, it really just interrupts the flow. Dan Reynalds sings: “We are the digital heartbeat / We are the face of the future / We don’t want to change / We just want to change everything”. If this is the sound of the digital heartbeat, then I feel embarrassed to be a millennial.
The subsequent track ‘Only’ returns to the repetitive indie pop tone of the former tracks. This makes the record feel messy and unthought out and makes listeners feel unhopeful that the album will get any better as it progresses. Anyone who feels this would be right because the record piques with the opening track ‘Natural’.
Overall, the album is uninspired and clumsy. It dares to experiment but there is no innovation there. That said, fans of Imagine Dragons will likely be pleased as it does stay true to the band’s definitive sound. What’s more, you’ll still find us on the dance floor when they play this album during the festival season because even though it’s pretty adequate, on a sunny day the band never fail to get us up on our feet for a boogy.
2/5
