Mercury - Act 1

Mercury - Act 1 is the fifth studio album by American alternative rock band Imagine Dragons, released on September 3, 2021, by Kidinakorner and Interscope. It is the band's first album since Origins (2018). The album was executive produced by Rick Rubin.

Following the conclusion of their Evolve World Tour in 2018, Imagine Dragons' fourth studio album Origins was released that November. Unlike their previous albums, the band did not tour in promotion of Origins, instead opting to take time off to decompress and spend time with family.

The album was announced on June 30, 2021, revealing the cover art and release date.

Frontman Dan Reynolds described the album as split into two sides: one organic and looking inward, the other more aggressive and looking outward. The album touches on themes of loss, loneliness, and grief, while celebrating life: "I have watched my friends die to drug addiction. The point of art is to share our darkest moments as well as the light ones. I believe that by singing about my own struggle with it, it hopefully will bring someone else some sort of peace or resolve. This record deals with a lot of searching and loneliness, struggling with the finite state of reality. However, I really wanted it to end on a celebratory note. Setting the foundation for a more steady and stable future. I wanted to end the record by focusing on all the things that make me happy. The simple things that keep me going every day. Looking to the future. Pointing out to myself all the beauty that surrounds me."

The album's name is derived from the word “mercurial”, drawing on Reynolds’ mental health struggles and the band's lack of specific genre classification. The band enlisted Rick Rubin as the album's executive producer, whom Reynolds credited with pushing him to be less metaphorical lyrically and embrace the more “uncomfortable” aspects of songs: "Rick reminded me that over the last decade my fans have grown up with me. They not only want to grow with me, but they expected it. He told me to never worry about pushing them in uncomfortable ways. And that I really would be doing them a disservice if I ever tried to re-create the past or sugarcoat the present. I owe them vulnerability and honesty only."

The album was preceded by three singles. The two lead singles "Follow You" and "Cutthroat" were released on March 12, 2021. The third single "Wrecked", which was inspired by the death of Reynolds' sister-in-law, was released on July 2, 2021. "Monday" became the fourth single on the day of the album's release.