He doesn’t know the difference between a G or an F. It's like when someone can just listen and has great ideas," he described. "He has big, giant ears is what you’d say. When it comes down to the production of the new album, courtesy of Rick Rubin, Sermon said that the music big-wig has a special way of connecting with the music.
"If you really listened to the ‘90s, they were really ruled by powerful women singing these angsty songs." I listened to a lot of hip-hop and I listened to a lot of the grand ballads of the '90s by these powerful women," he said, detaling his love for massive songs. Reynolds pointed out that part of the development of his catalog is based on his love for big songs. "You can’t feel the happiness unless you feel the sadness."Īs the show went on and fans were treated to stripped versions of their hits, Booker asked if most of their songs are created from that place of simplicity. It’s not always a happy record, but there’s moments of happiness, right? That’s how life is," he told iHeartRadio's Booker in front of the live (and virtual) audience. "We wanted this record to make you smile.
When speaking of the follow-up to 2018's Origins, Reynolds said that the just-released 13-track collection is full of moments of highs and lows. Live music is back and Imagine Dragons got their toes wet with their iHeartRadio Album Release Party in celebration of their fifth studio LP, Mercury - Act 1, on Wednesday night (September 8).ĭuring the 60-minute show, which was available to stream on LiveXLive, or the LiveXLive app, Dan Reynolds, Wayne Sermon, Ben McKee, Daniel Platzman, as well as a backing musician on piano keys, Elliot Schwartzman, sat down on stage and zipped through a number of stripped back versions of tracks from their new album, including Reynolds' ode to his wife, Aja Volkman, "Follow You," "My Life," "Wrecked" and set's closing track, "One Day." However, the quintet started things off with an acoustic rendition of a song that the entire audience has known for years: "Believer."