To follow the band’s wildly popular first album, Night Visions, Imagine Dragons would need an equally strong and varied sophomore album, which is just what they created with their newest record, Smoke + Mirrors. This album has explored and revisited techniques used in past songs, such as their iconic use of reverb, to give it that same Imagine Dragons sound with more diversity in the styles and emotions of their music.

As a band who loves touring, Imagine Dragons focused their sound on what works best in arenas, like they have in the past with tunes like “Radioactive.” In Smoke + Mirrors, they again created flawless arena acoustic, especially in their opening track, “Gold,” which uses a variety of vocal and instrumental techniques to create a unique sound. Heavy drums and a hollow whistle noise create a fries-in-a-milkshake-shouldn’t-be-good-together-but-strangely-are kind of feeling. “Friction” and “I’m So Sorry,” later tracks, create a similar sort of feeling with a bit of that classic rock rebellion sound this year’s seniors have especially come to love.

The band’s sense of modern rock was not lost, however, in its few ballads. “Dream,” for example, slows down the pace of the rest of the album for a quietly hopeful, emotional bit of the record. Unlike this song’s lyric “everything’s a mess,” this album is definitely not. Each song on this album has its own individual tone and mood, creating a diverse and overall incredible record.