Imagine Dragons: Night Visions

While you may not recognise the name, chances are you’ll all be well aware of Imagine Dragons’ music. Whether soundtracking an ultra-slick video game or adding a teary-eyed climax to some schmaltzy Kate Hudson rom-com, their music has been subliminally infiltrating our collective brain-cases for the last six months or so. And now Europe finally gets to properly sample their debut album Night Visions.

Already a hit in their native America, their unashamedly mainstream rock sound has drawn comparisons to fellow Sin City residents The Killers, with some suggesting that Imagine Dragons are ready to take over where Brandon Flowers’ mob left off.
So is the album any good? Um, kinda. When it comes to mixing genres and styles, the boys have got balls as big as King Kong and indie rock (‘Hear Me’), dubstep (‘Radioactive’), nu folk (‘It’s Time’) and afrobeat (‘Cha Ching (Till We Grow Older)’) all nuzzle comfortably up beside one another. However, much of the material is like having a Battenberg cake with a cup of tea – nice but not exactly essential. And the blatant (admittedly successful) attempts at romancing the radio with stadium-friendly choruses suggests that there is a smart commercial mind at work.
When they get it right, Imagine Dragons do sound like bona fide big league contenders. ‘Amsterdam’ is an indie powerhouse, while the hand-clap and mandolin-led ‘It’s Time’ will doubtless be inescapable this summer, and deservedly so: it’s cerebral pop at its best. So: Imagine Dragons’ debut definitely marks them out as the band most likely to lead the next wave of stadium acts. Watch this space.