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Vanwyngarden And Goldwasser: Album Analysis

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It’s been five years since Brooklyn based duo and pioneering synth-pop darlings MGMT released its snoozefest self-titled album. Considering the sound of Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser has deteriorated ever since its stunning debut album Oracular Spectacular, expecting a revelatory follow up to its 2013 project seemed farfetched. While I was pleasantly surprised by the first three singles of MGMT’S latest album Little Dark Ages, hesitancy remained as I delved into the entire album, but color me shocked, because the duo’s latest installment is the delightfully brooding apex of a polarizing music career. Once widely deemed as mere shells of psychedelic overlords Animal Collective, MGMT has finally toned down the dated sensibilities of psych-pop and alternatively zeroes in on a darker atmosphere that was only briefly examined in the duo’s last album. With this in mind, MGMT manages to path a harmonious road where Oracular spectacular and the self-titled album meet—a balance that embraces the outfit’s early-career danceability and its expanding grip on darkness.

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