Something Dylan Von Wagner encountered at an exhibition became the starting point for “All The Glitter,” a song about the stories we invent to make sense of the inevitable. It began with the Imaginary People frontman contemplating the mystery life of a woman in a photograph.
“The demo hung around for years,” says the New York City-based singer, songwriter and restaurant GM.
Such was the case for much of Takes (Five Five Diamonds), an album that trades the politically charged post-punk of 2025’s Alibi for something more intimate and introspective. Von Wagner wrote many of the songs seven years ago, but they took on renewed significance after his mother’s cancer diagnosis and a health scare of his own. The recording process was a departure from the band’s usual approach, beginning with basic solo acoustic tracks by Von Wagner. Enhancements came later, with programmed drums, atmospheric textures and synths from keyboardist Justin Repasky and the rest of Imaginary People.
On Takes, Von Wagner softens some of the sharper edges of his earlier work, replacing his vocal snarl with a more nuanced delivery that’s more fitting for songs that explore the wide-open emotional crevasse between grief and acceptance. “All The Glitter” approaches those concerns from a novel angle.
“Looking at the woman in this one photo, I imagined her having endless daydreams about her life,” Von Wagner says. “There’s no telling the amplitude of certain death, but the gesture to imagine is all you have when the end comes.”
We’re proud to premiere Imaginary People’s “All The Glitter.” Look for Takes next February.
—Hobart Rowland
