Review: I Have Some Mixed Feelings on Loom

I meant to do this review shortly after Imagine Dragons released this album, but obviously was unable to do so. However, even though I couldn’t do it immediately, I at least have had a little over a month to fully absorb the album, let it grow on me, and figure out what my thoughts are. At first, I thought it wasn’t Imagine Dragon’s best work (and it isn’t, Night Visions is) but for the most part, it isn’t that bad.

#1: Instrumentals

For the most part, the instrumentals used in Loom are pretty chill and definitely give me dogdays-of-summer vibes. The only songs where they are more fast paced and quick are “Eyes Closed” (the first single that was released for this album) and “Wake Up”. Other than that, it almost feels like I’m listening to an edited acoustic album, which is something that is kind-of different from what I’m used to but isn’t bad. The only instrumentals that I have a problem with are those used in “Nice to Meet You.” They sounded like they would be more fitting for a roller rink in 1975 than an Imagine Dragons album in 2024.

However, my favorite instrumentals from the entire album are the ones used in “In Your Corner”. They bring me back to listening to Night Visions when I was 11-12, particularly to the song “Nothing Left to Say.” The closing instrumentals are gorgeous and have a beautiful melancholy to them that is conveyed throughout the song.

#2: The Message of Loom

Most of Imagine Dragons’ most notable work has mainly centered around mental health, grieving, following your dreams, sounded like songs to hype you up, or were a mix. These are themes that they seemed to have stuck with throughout much of the album, especially in “Eyes Closed”, “In Your Corner”, “Don’t Forget Me”, “Kid”, and “Fire in These Hills.” Given that that’s most of the album, I think the message is to be there for those who are struggling, try to find a healthy way of fixing your mental health, and hold onto the people who are there to help you.

However, even though I can agree with the first and second message (though, depending on how you interpret “In Your Corner”, the second message could be quite sketchy) I think the third message should have an asterisk next to it. Throughout the album, Dan (the lead singer) seems to either be grieving for whoever might be gone (in which case the message could be “Allow yourself to grieve”) or is seemingly dependent on whoever it is that he’s singing about. I’m mostly referring to the song “Fire in These Hills” where he’s saying that he’s nothing without “you”, whoever you is. While this could – once again – be translated to mean that he’s grieving someone such as a close friend or family member, if it’s the other interpretation, my question is who is he dependent on? Is it God? Or is it a therapist or friend who has helped them? While I do think that you should hold onto the people who have helped you and thank them, I don’t think that you should be completely dependent on them to the point of total clinginess. This is something that I struggle with and am trying to fix in my own life, which is why these lyrics confuse me.

#3: My Rating

My rating for Loom is a 5/10. It’s not a terrible album and I’ll listen to it on car rides, but it’s also not their best work. There’s also the fact that two of the songs on the album are pretty much the exact same, only one of them is a remix, which feels lazy to me, like they couldn’t be bothered to ride a 13th song, but I know that plenty of people are fine with remixes, so there is some forgiveness there.

Until next time,

M.J.