I'm finally having a chance to sit down and listen to our beloved MGMT's new album Congratulations. For bands like MGMT, follow-ups are always tricky territory. I'm sure each of you can name a band for every finger that's completely fucked up LP2 - especially bands that gained a considerable about of notice for their first album. MGMT was a huge part of the electro explosion. They erupted onto the scene in a big way with a big sound, reinforcing themselves along the way with some absolutely killer remixes.
For Congratualtions, it sounds like they are taking the ever trickier route of transforming their sound. Congratulations should be seen as a separate volume rather than a new chapter. The band has opted for a much grander, more broad, encompassing sound the second time around. Making appearances, in no particular order: acoustic guitars, screaming electric guitars, strings, horns, flutes, trippy-synths, normal-synths, vocoders, reverbs, hella feedback ('ghost-like,' at times), chanted choruses, and songs that sweep between each effortlessly. The sound, especially the vocals, reminds me much of early Arcade Fire or even early Flaming Lips, if you can imagine that being applied to a still very MGMT sonic touch.
The lead single, 'Flash Delirium,' left many people, including me, completely turned off. I'm happy to say that after a couple listens through the album I am thoroughly impressed with the precision and poise MGMT has displayed in releasing a second album that could have easily been a mediocre rehashing of their first. Flash Delirium itself makes an incredible amount of sense, in context. 'Someone's Missing' sounds retro-dreamy while the 12+ minute 'Siberian Breaks' is a landscape of amalgamated sounds. The followup 'Brian Eno,' named of course for the God of Sound (whom sometimes goes, simply, by 'Brian'), is a thrashing of epic proportion, signaling the movement to a Deerhunter-like sound for the last stretch of the album. The album's title track 'Congratualtion' closes the album off with an acoustic conquering of the lyric "As strange is it seems, I'd rather dissolve than have you ignore me" - a fitting salutation. If you're looking for that re-hash then I am terribly sorry but you would do best to leave this album out entirely. Congratulations is a Dali if Oracular Spectacular was a van Gogh. Sonically, the album is intensely interesting at every turn, offering sweeping tempos and beats that are downright boppy at times. Some songs sound intensely natural while others, like one of the album's heavy hitters 'Someone's Missing,' sound chronically disillusioned - in a trippy sense [of sound], which I very much appreciate. If any new band's follow-up could ever be considered experimental - ladies and gentleman, I give you MGMT:
MGMT (OS) | (MS) | (W) - Flash Delirium (MP3)
PS: The album was recently leaked, hence clicking the official site link above will take you to a page where you can stream the album in its entirety. MGMT, as stated on the site, opted to allow streaming of the album rather than letting the first wave of listeners be scene-only pirates. If you enjoy it, please do buy it on 4/13! <3
