Imagine Dragons an upcoming album, and, even as early as the start of the tour, had been recording demos for the album, before entering the studio. By the time that they entered the studio to work on the album, they had amassed 50 demos to work from. The demos had been described by Reynolds as "definitely different", but added that "it's still Imagine Dragons, but we've got a lot of growth and maturing to do as a band. I think the new material is going to hopefully be a step in the right direction. We're just trying to create and do what
Imagine Dragons comes out and what feels right". Drummer Daniel Platzman added that the band are critical of themselves, with "no room for external pressure". Inspired greatly by the band's travels on both their previous tours and the Night Visions Tour, the album explored world culture as a musical item and overall motif in the album. Dan Reynolds told New Orleans-based newspaper "The Times-Picayune" that there was "a lot of inspiration to be drawn from [the world tour]. You kind of realize that you're a lot smaller than you think". In addition, Reynolds stated to music magazine "Rolling Stone" that the next