Mass Motivation

The self-titled third offering from MGMT takes the fascination for psychedelia that was clearly spelt out on 2010's Congratulations and mixes it up into a more playful electronic context. As we move across the album from the freaked-out funk of Aliens Days to the drifting, spaced-out vibes of An Orphan Of The Future, the New York duo offer listeners the kind of trip that even Lucy in the sky might enjoy with some diamonds. It's reassuring to see that major artists can still stand their artistic ground and deliver delightfully idiosyncratic daydreams for our ears.

The idea of releasing an eponymously titled album actually started as a joke. “We always used to laugh about releasing a self-titled album but in the end it became appropriate,” Andrew VanWyngarden enlightens. “It needed to be self-titled because I think this album is truly representative of our sound. A lot of the album was recorded like the music we made when we were 19 or 20 and recording the first album. We had no idea what we were doing and were just making sounds for the sake making a noise,” says VanWyngarden.

As Mystery Disease swirls with synthesisers, the duo start to sound a little like The Black Angels plugged into synths. “It took me a long time to hear a soul or spirit in electronic music,” says VanWyngarden. “I think I have evolved a better appreciation of electronic music. Ben [Goldwasser] has probably become more interested in synths than myself. I guess I am still exploring the possibilities that electronic music offers. I like these little bubbles of atmospheres you can create on a synthesiser that can take you to a whole other world.”

Once again teaming up with producer Dave Fridmann, VanWyngarden acknowledges that he was also heavily involved in the creative process. “A lot of the songs on the album came out of improvisation from which we would try to build upon. Dave would record hours and hours of improvisational jams and listen back to it and guide or encourage us on what he thought should be developed. He provided a lot of motivation and encouragement.” Interestingly, this album was almost entirely written in the studio. “It's something that we had never done before. Usually when we have gone into the studio the songs are pretty fleshed out in our minds in terms of what we want to record. Alien Days was the only song I had written prior to the sessions. All up the album took about a year to complete. We ended up doing about six sessions for this album and each of them lasted two weeks. It was nice to have some time in between the recording sessions where you didn't have to think about the music or the album. It helped take a little of the pressure off and remain open to different ideas. We really want MGMT to sound like whatever we are feeling at a particular time.”

Despite their seemingly whimsical approach, some songs may leave listeners wondering if VanWyngarden is feeling cynical. “I can see how it would be easy to interpret songs like Your Life Is A Lie as being negative or cynical. We feel it's a pretty common sensation for many people that when you think that you are out there and living your life there is a nagging feeling that there are some mysterious hidden people who are making decisions for the world. Nobody particularly agrees and it just feels wrong. The song is some sort of attempt to revolt against the people who are making those decisions and seem to be in control of everything. It would be nice if you could take a song like that and aim it back at those people. I guess I'm just a hippy who believes that focused thoughts are energy and our imagination can have real life effects in the real world. I think it is used against us a lot. So why not try to use it for more positive means? It is difficult because we never want to be blatantly political or have some social message that we put out there. But at the same time we try to construct our music with these little encoded messages in them and try to be subtle about it. We really appreciate fans who dig deeper and find their own meaning. This is why I don't want to come off as being cynical. We want to be positive and motivational and give [people] energy and encouragement to work out what's going on around them.”