The indie band MGMT takes a risky trip into experimental territory on their new self-titled album MGMT, released September 17. Since the release of their more popular, chart-topping singles like “Kids” and “Time to Pretend,” the band has been toying with new sounds and ideas for creative lyrical content.
Though much of their older music was radio-friendly, this new album has abandoned that angle to pursue a more innovative and unique style. Each track takes an unexpected turn into something new and exciting, bringing in its own distinct sound. Though some songs are repetitive, such as “Plenty of Girls in the Sea” and “Your Life is a Lie,” none of these songs are repetitive to the point where the lyric value is lost, and each song has a much deeper meaning and base of its lyrics. Song likes “Introspection” and “Mystery Disease,” as well as multiple others on the record, carry very strong imagery and take on extremely poetic aspects. MGMT has been extremely consistent with the quality of their lyrics throughout all of their albums and have yet to have that factor of their music dwindle.
Through their past albums like Oracular Spectacular and Congratulations, MGMT acquired a large indie-pop fanbase, with a lot of fans that appreciated the catchy, upbeat, more mainstream-sounding songs. Since the band has ultimately come away from that and more into the psychedelic-sounding genres, many fans have not accepted the sound of the new album as well as they had previous albums. Though MGMT always has psychedelic and electronic-sounding influences, the band has taken those particular influences into more consideration for the instrumentals on MGMT, which make for an extremely well-made and technical record.They have also added in many unique qualities with their instrumentals apart from just synthesizers, like cowbells, heavier bass lines and the use of heavier compression throughout the entirety of the album, causing a faint, almost fuzzy, dulled out sound throughout the album.
Along with the new songs, their newest music videos for songs such as “Cool Song No. 2” have interesting factors incorporated into them, such as a strong plot line and unique concepts and visual editing, which includes a dream-like scene of a man turning into a monster. The group has been active in the visual aspect of their music in a way that many other musicians have not. Their music videos are filmed and seen much more like art, which adds a lot to the meanings of their songs and lyrics. The visual representations of what the songs are trying to say are meant to help fans decipher their sometimes vague and confusing lyrics. That being said, the videos are often hard to piece together, though they are meant to tell a story, and usually have very obscure concepts. This is much like their music in general: a bit of obscurity that makes one consider ways in which they may be trying to reach their audience.
MGMT is extremely technically and lyrically advanced, as well as a pleasant change in instrumental sound. The band is extremely consistent in their music quality, even if they experiment with multiple genres and sounds in the course of their career.
