Machine (Imagine Dragons song)

"Machine" is a song by American pop rock band Imagine Dragons, who co-wrote it with their producer Alex da Kid. It is the third single from the band's fourth studio album Origins.^[1]

"Machine"
Single by Imagine Dragons
from the album Origins
Released	October 31, 2018
Recorded	2018
Genre	Arena rock industrial
Length	3:02
Label	Interscope KIDinaKORNER
Songwriter(s)	Dan Reynolds Ben McKee Wayne Sermon Daniel Platzman Alex da Kid
Producer(s)	Alex da Kid
Imagine Dragons singles chronology
"Zero" (2018) "Machine" (2018) "Bad Liar" (2018)
Licensed audio
"Imagine Dragons - Machine (Audio)" on YouTube

Background

A snippet of the track was teased in the trailer for Origins. The song was officially announced on social media the day before it was released. On Twitter, the cover art for the song was posted, as well as the caption "Our new song Machine drops TOMORROW morning".^[2]

Composition

The song has been labeled as arena rock^[3] and industrial^[4] by critics.

Critical reception

In a positive review of the album by The Independent, the song (along with another single, "Natural") was described as "stomping, stadium filling anthems that scream defiance and are what most would brand "classic" Imagine Dragons".^[5] Billboard also described the song as "explosive" and "powerful".^[6]

Lyrics

The song's lyrics are about "living outside the box others might put you in"^[6] and possible references to social and political realities.

Live performances

"Machine" was performed live for the first time at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas on November 7, along with three other songs from the album: "Natural", "Zero" and "Bad Liar".^[7]

Personnel

Imagine Dragons

• Dan Reynolds – lead vocals, keyboards
• Wayne Sermon – electric guitar, backing vocals
• Ben McKee – bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
• Daniel Platzman – drums, percussion

Production

• Alex da Kid – production

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2018–19) Peak position Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[8] 31 Hungary (Stream Top 40)[9] 30 New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ)[10] 16 Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)[11] 20 Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan)[12] 8 US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[13] 17

Year-end charts Chart (2019) Position US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)[14] 79

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[15]	Platinum	40,000‡
United States (RIAA)[16]	Gold	500,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.