After a period of introspection on 2022's deep double album
Mercury
,
Imagine Dragons
bring the beat back on their lively seventh set,
Loom
. Produced by the band with Swedish collaborators
Mattman & Robin
, it's a short-and-sweet dose of everything that have made
such a global favorite in the decade since their debut: insidiously catchy earworms that throw genre convention to the wind in favor of physically motivated doses of juiced-up pop/rock. That trademark anthemic blitz of genres backed by hard-hitting percussion is boosted with the addition of more pop flair and hip-hop bounce, as heard on early album tracks "Wake Up" (which could be an alternate-universe
Eminem
track in the most complimentary way possible); the surprising "Nice to Meet You," a funky disco-pop dancefloor bop; and the Latin-tinged "Take Me to the Beach." The ominous "Eyes Closed" -- with or without the
J Balvin
feature -- is classic
, knocking heads with wobbly dubstep rattle, gang shouts, and
Dan Reynolds
' distinctive delivery. "Gods Don't Pray" rides a sinister alterna-dub bounce, while "Kid" keeps that
Gorillaz
vibe going with a track that could have been plucked straight from
Demon Days
. Of the slower moments, the yearning mid-album respite "In Your Corner" pulses along a determined beat and wistful,
Linkin Park
-esque synths, while the moving "Don't Forget Me" pleads and begs atop twinkling production and a touchingly earnest performance from
Reynolds
. While
kept their hit streak going and matured the band with a welcome vulnerability, longtime fans of their aggressive empowerment anthems will delight in this pseudo-"return to form" from the Vegas quartet, one of their most satisfying and immediate sets to date. ~ Neil Z. Yeung