Reflections

Meet Daniel Sullivan and his wife Miriam (Reema), a pair of private investigators doing what they love and sticking together through life, death and beyond.

From kidnapping and the multiverse, to a haunted Corvette and a crushing loss, to cozy family yarns and satirical parodies, there's something here for everyone.

If you want to read these in order of when the events have taken place in the characters' lives, please read them from the top of the folder down. Each can also be read on its own.

Notes on Inspiration

My choice for my second year's "Musicology Anthology"  hosted by Jeff is Gru in #2343485 is Reflections, the Imagine Dragons collection of demos released on February 21st, 2025.

These fourteen previously unheard of 1 songs were gathered from the archives to celebrate the tenth anniversary of their 2015 sophomore album, Smoke + Mirrors. Reflections is not a standard toured, promoted album, and has no music videos. Rather it is a scrapbook, a sampling of unfinished projects from the era, something which devoted fans will appreciate as a glimpse into the craft and mindset of lead singer/songwriter Dan Reynolds.

I selected Reflections for the Musicology Anthology because of the straightforward tracklist (no deluxe editions or bonus tracks) and the exciting storytelling potential. I also chose it so I would have an excuse to bond more deeply with each song.

The tracks range in style from whimsical eighties flavored love ditties (Playing Me and Strange Ways) to experimental, off-the-wall techno (The Ghost Intervention) to fully-produced pop-rock tunes hearkening back to the Dragons origins in the mid-aughts (Mayday) or murky, philosophical dreamscapes exploring Dan's heavier emotions (Black and Destroyed.)

I tried to do justice to this quirky collection by one of my favorite artists. Few people outside of the fan base will ever pay attention to Reflections; it has received little to no media analysis. Please enjoy my efforts

Footnotes
1  A slight misnomer, as I Bet My Life was a single off of Smoke + Mirrors. This is the demo version, with a different bridge and lighter production. Also note that many super fans are familiar with "secret," unofficial or leaked versions of some of these.