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Five fallow years. We had to wait until 2016 for MGMT to hit the studio, under the sun of the US West Coast. Little Dark Age marks the glorious return of Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser, heroes of the soundtrack to the 2000s. After an eponymous album which was less impressive than Oracular Spectacular (2007) and Congratulations (2010), this fourth work takes off on a synth-pop tangent. They needed to evolve. All alone, the Brooklyn team started to feel their isolation. On production, we find Dave Fridmann, ex-Mercury Rev, and Chairlift guitarist, Patrick Wimberly, who manages a double triumph. Channelling their genius and opening it out to collaborations: Connan Mockasin, who can be found in the album's title clip, and the main synth freak, Ariel Pink.
In a more sombre vein which binds form to content, MGMT draws out nuances in the form of homages to the Cure, Gothic and even pop flavours. If the acid sheen of their youthful works had the character of a bad trip (You die, And words won’t do anything, It’s permanently night), the psychedelic effervescence dries up to give way to a baroque pop sound, the quilted synths of Hand it Over showing that the priority here is levity. The heritage of Robert Smith has replaced the hippy bandanas, without quite filling Andrew's head with post-punk fatalism. On the contrary.
Struck by occasional inspirations (TSLAMP, She Works Out Too Much), MGMT are playing on the halcyon days of the Eighties, when new wave unfurled across Europe (the ambiguous Me & Michael). This recipe brings forth Little Dark Age and When You Die, marked by the dark synths and vivid melodies that Ariel writes along with the lyrics. An album like a rough-hewn gem. Frustrating, delightful, but with the allure of a thing incomplete. © CS/Qobuz
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Andrew VanWyngarden, Composer, Lyricist, Drums, Programmer, Synthesizer, Vocal - Ben Goldwasser, Composer, Programmer, Bass, Synthesizer, Background Vocal - Dave Fridmann, Producer, Engineer, Mixing Engineer - Patrick Wimberly, Producer, Engineer - Greg Calbi, Mastering Engineer - Steve Fallone, Mastering Engineer - Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, Engineer - MGMT, Producer, Engineer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Ariel Pink, Synthesizer, Background Vocal - Danny Meyer, Saxophone - Cellars, Vocal - Matt Estep, Assistant Engineer - Celso A. Estrada, Assistant Engineer - Tyler Karmen, Assistant Engineer - Josh Da Costa, Drums
(P) 2018 Columbia Records, a Division of Sony Music Entertainment
Andrew VanWyngarden, Composer, Lyricist, Programmer, Synthesizer, Vocal - Ben Goldwasser, Composer, Programmer, Synthesizer - Dave Fridmann, Producer, Engineer, Mixing Engineer - Patrick Wimberly, Producer, Engineer - James Richardson, Bass - Greg Calbi, Mastering Engineer - Steve Fallone, Mastering Engineer - Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, Engineer - MGMT, Producer, Engineer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Matt Estep, Assistant Engineer - Celso A. Estrada, Assistant Engineer - Tyler Karmen, Assistant Engineer
(P) 2017 Columbia Records, a Division of Sony Music Entertainment
Andrew VanWyngarden, Composer, Lyricist, Guitar, Percussion, Vocal - Ben Goldwasser, Composer, Flute, Synthesizer, Vocal - Dave Fridmann, Producer, Engineer, Mixing Engineer - Patrick Wimberly, Producer, Engineer, Percussion - Greg Calbi, Mastering Engineer - Steve Fallone, Mastering Engineer - Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, Engineer - MGMT, Producer, Engineer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Sébastien Tellier, Background Vocal - Ariel Pink, Composer, Lyricist, Guitar, Background Vocal - Connan Mockasin, Background Vocal - Matt Estep, Assistant Engineer - Celso A. Estrada, Assistant Engineer - Tyler Karmen, Assistant Engineer
(P) 2017 Columbia Records, a Division of Sony Music Entertainment
Andrew VanWyngarden, Composer, Lyricist, Drums, Guitar, Programmer, Synthesizer, Vocal - Ben Goldwasser, Composer, Programmer, Synthesizer - Dave Fridmann, Producer, Engineer, Mixing Engineer - Patrick Wimberly, Producer, Engineer, Vocal - Greg Calbi, Mastering Engineer - Steve Fallone, Mastering Engineer - Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, Engineer - MGMT, Producer, Engineer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Matt Estep, Assistant Engineer - Celso A. Estrada, Assistant Engineer - Tyler Karmen, Assistant Engineer
(P) 2018 Columbia Records, a Division of Sony Music Entertainment
Andrew VanWyngarden, Composer, Lyricist, Drums, Guitar, Bass, Synthesizer, Vocal - Ben Goldwasser, Composer, Synthesizer - Dave Fridmann, Producer, Engineer, Mixing Engineer - Patrick Wimberly, Producer, Engineer - James Richardson, Composer, Synthesizer - Greg Calbi, Mastering Engineer - Steve Fallone, Mastering Engineer - Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, Engineer - MGMT, Producer, Engineer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Matt Estep, Assistant Engineer - Celso A. Estrada, Assistant Engineer - Tyler Karmen, Assistant Engineer
(P) 2018 Columbia Records, a Division of Sony Music Entertainment
Andrew VanWyngarden, Composer, Lyricist, Drums, Vocal - Ben Goldwasser, Composer, Programmer, Synthesizer - Dave Fridmann, Producer, Engineer, Mixing Engineer - Patrick Wimberly, Producer, Engineer - James Richardson, French Horn - Greg Calbi, Mastering Engineer - Steve Fallone, Mastering Engineer - Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, Engineer - MGMT, Producer, Engineer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Matt Estep, Assistant Engineer - Celso A. Estrada, Assistant Engineer - Tyler Karmen, Assistant Engineer
(P) 2018 Columbia Records, a Division of Sony Music Entertainment
Andrew VanWyngarden, Composer, Lyricist, Percussion, Bass, Vocal - Ben Goldwasser, Composer, Organ, Programmer - Dave Fridmann, Producer, Engineer, Mixing Engineer - Patrick Wimberly, Producer, Engineer, Percussion, Bass - James Richardson, Guitar, Recorder, Synthesizer - Greg Calbi, Mastering Engineer - Steve Fallone, Mastering Engineer - Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, Engineer - MGMT, Producer, Engineer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Connan Mockasin, Composer, Guitar - Jonathan Patrick Wimberly, Composer - Matt Estep, Assistant Engineer - Celso A. Estrada, Assistant Engineer - Tyler Karmen, Assistant Engineer
(P) 2018 Columbia Records, a Division of Sony Music Entertainment
Andrew VanWyngarden, Composer, Lyricist, Drums, Guitar, Programmer, Synthesizer, Vocal - Ben Goldwasser, Composer, Programmer, Synthesizer - Dave Fridmann, Producer, Engineer, Mixing Engineer - Patrick Wimberly, Producer, Engineer - Greg Calbi, Mastering Engineer - Steve Fallone, Mastering Engineer - Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, Engineer - MGMT, Producer, Engineer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Matt Estep, Assistant Engineer - Celso A. Estrada, Assistant Engineer - Tyler Karmen, Assistant Engineer
(P) 2018 Columbia Records, a Division of Sony Music Entertainment
Andrew VanWyngarden, Composer, Lyricist, Drums, Bass, Background Vocal - Ben Goldwasser, Composer, Lyricist, Keyboards, Synthesizer, Vocal - Dave Fridmann, Producer, Engineer, Mixing Engineer - Patrick Wimberly, Producer, Engineer, Vibraphone - James Richardson, Composer, Guitar, Bass - Greg Calbi, Mastering Engineer - Steve Fallone, Mastering Engineer - Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, Engineer - MGMT, Producer, Engineer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Matt Estep, Assistant Engineer - Celso A. Estrada, Assistant Engineer - Tyler Karmen, Assistant Engineer
(P) 2018 Columbia Records, a Division of Sony Music Entertainment
Andrew VanWyngarden, Composer, Lyricist, Drums, Guitar, Keyboards, Programmer, Bass, Synthesizer, Vocal - Ben Goldwasser, Composer, Keyboards, Programmer, Synthesizer - Dave Fridmann, Producer, Engineer, Mixing Engineer - Patrick Wimberly, Producer, Engineer - Greg Calbi, Mastering Engineer - Steve Fallone, Mastering Engineer - Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, Engineer - MGMT, Producer, Engineer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Matt Estep, Assistant Engineer - Celso A. Estrada, Assistant Engineer - Tyler Karmen, Assistant Engineer
(P) 2018 Columbia Records, a Division of Sony Music Entertainment
Album review
Five fallow years. We had to wait until 2016 for MGMT to hit the studio, under the sun of the US West Coast. Little Dark Age marks the glorious return of Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser, heroes of the soundtrack to the 2000s. After an eponymous album which was less impressive than Oracular Spectacular (2007) and Congratulations (2010), this fourth work takes off on a synth-pop tangent. They needed to evolve. All alone, the Brooklyn team started to feel their isolation. On production, we find Dave Fridmann, ex-Mercury Rev, and Chairlift guitarist, Patrick Wimberly, who manages a double triumph. Channelling their genius and opening it out to collaborations: Connan Mockasin, who can be found in the album's title clip, and the main synth freak, Ariel Pink.
In a more sombre vein which binds form to content, MGMT draws out nuances in the form of homages to the Cure, Gothic and even pop flavours. If the acid sheen of their youthful works had the character of a bad trip (You die, And words won’t do anything, It’s permanently night), the psychedelic effervescence dries up to give way to a baroque pop sound, the quilted synths of Hand it Over showing that the priority here is levity. The heritage of Robert Smith has replaced the hippy bandanas, without quite filling Andrew's head with post-punk fatalism. On the contrary.
Struck by occasional inspirations (TSLAMP, She Works Out Too Much), MGMT are playing on the halcyon days of the Eighties, when new wave unfurled across Europe (the ambiguous Me & Michael). This recipe brings forth Little Dark Age and When You Die, marked by the dark synths and vivid melodies that Ariel writes along with the lyrics. An album like a rough-hewn gem. Frustrating, delightful, but with the allure of a thing incomplete. © CS/Qobuz
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 10 track(s)
- Total length: 00:43:57
- Main artists: MGMT
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Columbia
- Genre: Pop/Rock Rock Alternative & Indie
(P) 2017, 2018 Columbia Records, a Division of Sony Music Entertainment
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