This album cover image posted by KIDinaKORNER/Interscope shows “Loom” by Imagine Dragons. (KIDinaKORNER/Interscope via AP)
The ambiguity of Imagine Dragons’ next album starts with the cover art.
Two figures stand in the distance, separated by a rising sun. Or is it set? Lead singer-songwriter Dan Reynolds, who dreamed it up, sees it both ways.
“You really can’t tell if it’s sunset or sunrise, and then two people are kind of separated standing in front of it. That really sums it up thematically when I listen to it,” he tells The Associated Press.
“Is it the beginning of something new or is it the end of something? And sunset and sunrise always seem like that to me. It could be either/or.”
From the paranoid, slightly deranged hip-hop-rock opener “Wake Up” — with Reynolds singing, “Everybody’s coming for you/Wake up!” — to the strumming, swinging “Take Me to the Beach,” it’s clear that the nine-song album called ‘Loom’ is not one thing. The album is released on June 28.
It’s Reynolds’ first album since his divorce from musician Aya Folkman, and there are songs about moving on — the sunny flirty “Nice to Meet Ya” — but also looking back, like the bittersweet “In Your Corner” — “You turn your back/ And now we’re here’ — and ‘Don’t Forget Me,’ with the lyrics ‘I guess we got lost in the light.’
“I just start creating and whatever comes out is what it is. I’ve been like that since I was 12. I try not to think too much,” says Reynolds. “It’s just an honest sonic, lyrical statement of how I’m feeling right now.”
For the driving, anthemic “Kid,” Reynolds says he came into the studio with a somewhat chaotic life. He just mouthed words he was feeling over a drum loop: “Gotta get it together kid/Gotta get it together.” Then the band started to build. The song, inspired by the ’90s music he loves, like Gorillaz, became an ode to America, so adding a chorus made sense.
“We had a lot of fun creating this in the studio. I love the juxtaposition of things that are kind of tongue-in-cheek, but maybe also dark,” he says. “Heavy concepts but playful at the same time.”
“Loom” was recorded in a new way for Imagine Dragons, which includes guitarist Wayne Sermon, bassist Ben McKee and drummer Daniel Platzman. For one thing, the band abandoned their usual preference for multiple producers in favor of just one, the Swedish duo Mattman & Robin.
Another change was just approaching. “We usually go into the record with a bunch of demos that we’ve already produced ourselves and done ourselves,” says Reynolds. “But this one we had a bunch of demos and we just threw everything out and went in with a clean slate.”
“Loom” comes two years after “Mercury,” a dark, raw confessional double album that dealt with heartache, tragedy and Reynolds’ struggles with sobriety.
“Eyes Closed,” the first single from the new album, signals a change, with a big stormy beat and chest-pounding lyrics: “I’m back from the dead, from the back of my head/I’ve been gone and faced the horrors I never should have is called.”
Reynolds says he wanted a flashy, arrogant vibe but revealing a vulnerable core. “It was really something that on the outside looks put together and strong,” he says, “but on the inside it’s on the verge of maybe breaking.”
The title of the album – “Loom” – has many meanings. “Just because something is coming up doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad. It could be good,” he says. “I also love the idea of the double meaning of it, sort of like a tapestry.”
The Dragons will tour North America in support of “Loom,” kicking off June 30 in Camden, NJ at the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion and hitting cities such as Dallas, Seattle; Toronto; West Palm Beach, Florida; Denver; Charlotte, North Carolina; Phoenix; Salt Lake City; and ends on October 22 at the Hollywood Bowl.
Reynolds says touring is deep in Imagine Dragons’ DNA and talks about playing live as a hugely therapeutic endeavor, which their shows often become.
“It’s just a lot of people in a room realizing they’re not alone in their feelings,” he says. “I don’t necessarily need them to feel happy or sad or anything like that. I just want them to look around and see that other people are experiencing something too and feel, “I’m not alone in this.”
Songs from “Loom” will make the setlist, of course. Reynolds considers it one of the band’s fastest collections, although there are ballads and slow moments.
“Much of the record is a gracious attempt to come to terms with simple acceptance. Things come and go, for better or for worse, and there’s really nothing else you can do but accept it,” he says. “I haven’t learned how to do it yet, but we will.”
