Imagine Dragons’ latest album ‘Loom’ sparked by veteran rockers

Imagine Dragons released their sixth studio album of that title on Friday. I was taken promptly by the whimsical first single, “Nice to Meet You.” The song opens with a whispery backing vocal that reminds of music played in a department store in the 1970s. A sly artistic touch that sounds like something Weezer would uncork.

That is intentional. Imagine Dragons front man Dan Reynolds said during an iHeart Radio album release event Thursday that Weezer looms behind the new album.

“Loom” is a nine-track album. “Mercury — Acts 1 & 2,” its predecessor, has 32 songs. The band has more than 100 songs to pick from when assembling an album.

“We wanted to make a record that was concise, that was re-playable,” Reynolds said during the show hosted by L.A. podcast hosts Booker & Stryker. “One of my favorite records growing up was The Blue Album by Weezer, and you would just listen from start to finish and there was actually a lot going on but there was no fat. … We wanted to do that on this record.”

Produced by the songwriting/production duo Mattman & Robin, “Loom” is the center of the band’s upcoming, and fifth, North American tour. No Vegas dates, but four at the Hollywood Bowl Oct. 22-23 and 26-27.

“Loom” is also the first Imagine Dragons album released as a trio, with Reynolds, guitar great Wayne Sermon and adroit bassist Ben McKee the listed musicians. Drummer Daniel Platzman has been on hiatus since March 2023.

Platzman still creates music for his “Platz Cats,” with a series on his X page in which he crosses music genres. On June 17, he released a disco version of “The Godfather” theme. He calls it “Disco Father,” saying, “We’re still working on the title.” No matter. As someone said, it’s pretty rad.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.