MGMT

Emerging from the ever-shifting creative impulses of Ben Goldwasser and Andrew Van Wyngarden, MGMT forged a pop identity steeped in psychedelic excursions and art-rock explorations. The pair launched the project in 2002 while still freshman-year art students at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, evolving it from an early performance-art exercise into the polished, neon-lit synth-pop of their 2007 major-label debut Oracular Spectacular. That record earned Grammy nominations, moved more than 500,000 copies domestically, and earned platinum certification in Australia, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, while its third single “Kids” captured a defining moment of hipster ennui and later received a nomination for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards.

Goldwasser and Van Wyngarden first assembled the group under the name the Management, relying on backing tapes, synthesizers, and pre-recorded vocals while treating live appearances as a hybrid of confrontational performance art and punk provocation. By senior year they had moderated their stage approach and begun recruiting additional musicians to flesh out the sound. Following graduation they issued the electro-rock EP Time to Pretend in 2005 through the small Cantora Records imprint. For their proper full-length they enlisted producer Dave Fridmann, resulting in the far-reaching Oracular Spectacular, which surfaced at the end of 2007 and quickly secured both widespread critical praise and strong sales.

In 2009 the duo recruited former Spacemen 3 member Sonic Boom to helm their second album, Congratulations. Issued in 2010, the set embraced more ambitious, idiosyncratically psychedelic territory, including a track paying tribute to Dan Treacy of Television Personalities and Brian Eno. It entered the Billboard album chart at number two, prompting an extensive tour schedule that encompassed television spots and numerous festival dates. The following year MGMT curated a volume in the Late Night Tales series and reunited with Fridmann to begin work on their self-titled third album. Released in 2013, the record revisited the expansive scope of their debut while retaining the experimental edge of Congratulations; although reviews were mixed, it still reached the Billboard Top 20. Once touring concluded, the pair elected to pause their joint activities.

After roughly a year apart, Goldwasser and Van Wyngarden resumed exchanging song ideas electronically before reconvening to develop arrangements in person. They again brought in Fridmann, this time alongside producer Patrick Wimberly of Chairlift. Drawing on 1980s pop influences and heavy synthesizer textures, Little Dark Age appeared in February 2018—after being completed and delivered to Columbia the previous April—and stood as their most immediately accessible work since Oracular Spectacular, despite contributions from Ariel Pink and Connan Mockasin. The album debuted at number 35 on the Billboard 200 and number two on the Top Rock Albums chart. Several years later its title track experienced a sudden surge in streaming activity. In 2022 the band self-released the live document 11•11•11, capturing a 2011 commissioned performance at New York’s Guggenheim Museum.

Their fifth studio album, Loss of Life, ended a long association with Columbia and arrived in February 2024 via the independent Mom + Pop Music label. Its songs evoked 1970s soft rock and alternate-universe FM pop radio saturated with psychedelic sensibilities. Wimberly returned for production duties while Fridmann handled mixing; additional production came from Danger Mouse and Oneohtrix Point Never’s Daniel Lopatin, and Christine and the Queens supplied guest vocals on “Dancing in Babylon.”