Imagine Dragons – Loom review

Pop-rock problems are always on the horizon. We listeners are doomed to repeat whatever is at the top of the charts until someone finally decides to stop. Listeners are fighting a losing battle against the charts, and if Imagine Dragons had their way, they would be at the top permanently. Although they are widely recognized as popular musicians, it is difficult to describe any of their work as unique or interesting. Music made for salon waiting rooms while you chew Biscoff and wait for a cut. And yet loom doesn't even come close to this experience. At best unsatisfactory and at best vaguely recognizable noise, loom is a sickly animal burdened with the burden of its abused potential. As little as it may be, there is still scope for something that works here.

opener Wake up feels like the right kind of exercise. A particularly short but well-developed piece of pop joy. But the emptiness within and the meandering sex at its core is the sloppiness expected of chart artists. Imagine Dragons is a loud and boisterous collection of musicians who have no sense of perspective or unique joy in their experiences. Weightless works that seem endless despite their length of just over half an hour. But the slight hints of alternative dance that can be heard are small victories for those who stick with the band and expect different sound directions. You deceive yourself even more, but there are slight signs of joy. Nice to meet you undoes all of this. Whether it's the generic interplay of a back-and-forth conversation between would-be lovers or the imagery anticipated from the end-of-summer “vibes,” as Imagine Dragons would no doubt call it, it has an understated presentation all. loom has a disregard for detail that hurts its place in the relatable, everyday heartbreak.

Small joys like a decent bass line here or a decent touch of instrumental effort – there is no joy when the majority of this work is a lobotomy-like experience. Interjections of backing vocals and a repeating lead from Dan Reynolds praise the weekend as merely a time of spiritual release, and yet their experiences are no different than those for whom this holiday robs them of their soul and fun. Your instructions through life and the angelic expectations of Eyes closed Feel more like the writing on the wall of a newly built house, where general inspiration takes the place of effective, warm openness. But Imagine Dragons has always felt like life, laughter and the love of music. Everyone has a superficial, overused expectation, and it's not like Imagine Dragons are trying to break away from it.

Loose lyrics, uneventful instrumentals – and the result is a project that is too shy about the experiences it wants to capitalize on. They try to attack the people who like it Take me to the beach and yet they are the soundtrack for exactly the same thing: cheeky Nandos in sportswear and a few Friday night crowds already overwhelmed with the marketability of weekend thrills. Imagine Dragons taking up already crowded space with their sound. Sporty social noise that, if it came from a lesser artist, would serve as background music for frat parties on a low-budget television show documenting the thrill of boozy days with musicians referred to as “rad.” Imagine kites are still the shallow waters that aren't worth paddling in.

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