Following the release of their new single, ‘Wrecked’, Imagine Dragons have also announced the release date of the upcoming album ‘Mercury – Act 1’.
The group took to their Instagram to announce the album’s release date.
The American rockers have promised to come back with a galactic bang with their long-awaited new album. The band’s next studio album is set to be released on 3rd September 2021 and will be released through Kidinakorner and Interscope, run by Alex da Kid. The major label picked up the group after a string of independent releases and was responsible for handling their biggest release to date, 2012 single ‘Radioactive’.
The group worked with celebrated producer Rick Rubin on their fifth studio album, with such experience and talent behind the project, fans can expect a resounding success from the new album. Rubin was president of Columbia Records and also co-founded famed label Def Jam Recordings, which he started during his senior year of high school. He is a figurehead within the music industry, cited with the rise of Hip Hop with acts such as Public Enemy, Run-DMC and The Beastie Boys. Rubin’s name is renowned for hits within the music business, the producer has worked on such albums as LL Cool J’s debut album ‘Radio’ in 1985, which was also Def Jam’s first full-length release and The Red Hot Chili Pepper’s eighth studio album ‘By the Way’, released 2002.
Much like the quartet’s new single, ‘Mercury – Act 1’ promises to abolish pre-conceived notions about the lyrical techniques used in their previous work. Keeping within the theme of rapid change, the album takes inspiration from the term ‘mercurial’. A term also used within astrological fields, depicting a person born under Mercury, the planet. The album’s press release describes the new release as “a candid album that abandons metaphorically charged lyrics and instead embraces emotional extremities, holding nothing back.”
The group consists of four members, lead vocalist Dan Reynolds, lead guitarist Wayne Sermon, bassist Ben McKee and drummer Daniel Platzman. Originally founded by Reynolds and schoolmate Andrew Tolman, the foursome has had a few line-up changes during their career. During the early days of their formation, they released the EP entitled ‘Speak To Me’ in 2008. Afterwards, past members Aurora Florence and Andrew Beck left the group, Wayne Sermon, Berklee School of Music alumni, was then recruited in 2009 to take up the guitar. Soon after Tolman’s wife Britney Tolman was added as a keyboardist and backup singer, the band then lost another member. Dave Lemke, who was part of the original lineup, left the group and was replaced by another Berklee College of Music student Ben McKee, who remains as the band’s bassist today. Husband and wife, the Tolmans would later leave the group and Daniel Platzman would then join as the drummer, forming into the present line up in which we hear today.
The band’s big break came in 2009 at the Bite of Las Vegas festival, due to the sickness of Pat Monahan, the lead singer of Train, Imagine Dragons would take the stage in Train’s place. Excellent Press and good reviews from local publications and associations in Las Vegas would further boost their flourishing career. Eventually, the band were signed to the major record label Interscope in 2011 and got the chance to work with Grammy award-winning Alex da Kid, who is presently their label and management.
The album is to be released in various formats including CD, a deluxe CD book, various box sets and vinyl box sets, cassettes, exclusive CD and types of vinyl which come with exclusive covers and posters. The US store Target will sell the exclusive covers and posters as well as merch akin with the exclusive artwork along with special album packages.
Click here to pre-order the new album.
