Avid Dragons fans rejoice: Five-song second EP Hell and Silence is another batch of exactly what you’ve come to love since the band arrived in town last summer—fun, dancey synth-pop. For the casually interested, however, the over-innocent electro-bubblegum is already starting to sound formulaic.
The Details
“Golly me/Oh my, oh my/Cross my heart and hope to die/Bourbon streets and bicycles/Holding you in carnivals,” singer Dan Reynolds croons on “Emma,” coming over like a teenage diary entry. A better choice: “Hear Me,” which showcases a more mature-sounding Reynolds on a song more reminiscent of Interpol than The Jonas Brothers. Zealots will no doubt welcome the studio version of live favorite “Selene” most, but some grit on that one, too, could help open doors to a whole new audience—without losing touch with Imagine Dragons’ already hardcore fanbase.
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