MGMT

MGMT is an American alternative band which formed in 2002 in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. The band's founding members, Andrew VanWyngarden (lead vocalist, primary songwriter, multi-instrumentalist) and Ben Goldwasser (backing vocalist, multi-instrumentalist), met while attending Wesleyan University, and have remained as the core of the group to this day. They intially named their project The Management, under which they recorded two demo EPs (which ended up being unofficially leaked online in 2005 as Climbing to New Lows), but changed their name to MGMT upon learning that another band had already been using their prior choice. Following this change, the band was signed to Cantora Records and released an EP entitled Time To Pretend - as VanWyngarden and Goldwasser had since graduated from Wesleyan, they gained the ability to tour more expansively in support of this release. The duo was signed to Columbia Records in 2006, having caught the label's interest with their prior EP. They released their debut studio album, Oracular Spectacular the following year and quickly gained the attention of media journalists, other renowned musicians (such as Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney), and the general music industry alike. Their sophomore album, Congratulations, was released in 2010 and was notable for showcasing the band's matured sound, though this aspect made the album less appealing to much of their audience compared to their debut. Initially, the band had stated a desire not to release singles prior to the release of the album, but ended up making lead single "Flash Delirium available on their website a month before the album's release. Due to the album having been leaked online, it was made available to stream for free on their website three weeks prior to its release date. In 2013, the band's third album, MGMT was released alongside an accompanying visualizer entitled "The Optimizer" meant to be played alongside the album. The album, which features a cover of the Faine Jade song "Introspection", continued the band's ongoing path of making more experimental music with heavier production - which subsequently meant that many critics found it even more confusing. The band took a brief break following the culmination of this album's promotional tour during which VanWyngard and Goldwasser focused on their own personal lives. Having regrouped in late 2015, the band experienced what they referred to as "writer's block" which resulted in stagnancy within their recording sessions. After gaining a different perspective from their newly-hired producer Patrick Wimberly, however, the band decided for the first time to open their songwriting process and collaborate with other artists - in particular, VanWyngarden credited Ariel Pink for enabling him to feel more relaxed and open to a more spontaneous approach to songwriting. In 2018, the band released their fourth studio album, Little Dark Age, which showcased their return to a looser, more pop-like sound. In 2019, the band parted ways with Columbia and began releasing music on their own independent label, beginning in December of that year with "In The Afternoon" followed by "As You Move Through The World" three months later. However, the band proceeded to go on an informal hiatus for the next four years. The band announced in 2023 that they were planning to release a new album and go on tour again that year, and in October of that year they announced their fifth studio album, Loss Of Life, which ended up releasing in early 2024. The album features a much more contemporary sound in comparison to their prior releases, and includes their first-ever track featuring another artist, Dancing in Babylon (feat. Christine and the Queens). Besides Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser, the band has included a number of touring members, some of whom also provided minor contribution to the band's studio recordings. These members include Hank Sullivant (guitar, keyboards), Matthew Asti (bass, backing vocals), James Richardson (drums, guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Will Berman (drums, percussion, harmonica, backing vocals), and Simon O'Connor (bass, backing vocals). .