MGMT – Loss of Life Review

Get over your nostalgic selves. Kids was seventeen years ago and still sounds like the peak. Loss of Life, the latest record from MGMT, hopes to disprove this. There is a shocking consistency to a band whose influence in the UK – particularly average indie club scenes – is just one song. More power to them, people coast their careers off much worse work than this one. Loss of Life opens a whole new avenue for listeners who may only know the hit. A Christine and the Queens-featuring hit is on their hands then. MGMT is back with a bang after a few years plugging away at what becomes one of their finest releases. This is anything but loss – this is a gain of deep understanding, of comfort in the disorienting fog.

Find a comfortable state with distortion and the whirring anxieties of Loss of Life (part 2). They feed into Mother Nature with an exceptional bridge of static and conscious fear to the melodic acoustics which try and manage the turbulence of love. Loss of Life benefits greatly from the stripped-back adult contemporary feel of pieces like Mother Nature. It is not all sophistication and sweetness; the percussion breaks through this mould as does the Christine and the Queens collaboration. There is a laid-back styling prevalent the whole way through – a Future Islands sense of big ideas explained as simply and smartly as possible. It marks Loss of Life as a talented showcase of essentials. Strip back the excess and touch the stars as Dancing in Babylon hopes for.  

Cling to those optimistic tones with People in the Streets, a slice of life from MGMT where the duo holds their hands up and offers some solidarity to the commuters of the world. Lucky for those who work from home, living and dying at their desk, but even better for those on the commute who have some delightful and mature synth work to look forward to. Bubblegum Dog, with its sharp guitar work and alien-like jitters, is a sincere high – a cacophony of quality from MGMT who sound as comfortable as ever with challenging themselves and their musical identity. Bursts of inspired jazz and smooth saxophone implementations appear on Nothing Changes before the tranquil tones take hold, the twinkling charms of the gift that is life cropping up on Phradie’s Song. What comes so clear is a thankful appeal, the nature of Loss of Life is to compartmentalise how lucky we are to have it. 

Tender optimism is not the only mood MGMT provides with this one though it is the overarching appeal. An understanding of love beyond the living and a sense of loss, apparent in the title track and album closer Loss of Life. Bait the dog. Pass the time. What a life it must be to live out the experiences found in Loss of Life. Experience anything and let it rush and take hold. This is the wild ride so necessary to a well-lived life. MGMT has its fingers on the pulse of what new rushes must appear – and finds tranquillity in its electronic musings. An intensity to its feelings, which are bold and loving and as clear as can be. Find yourself and feel for the “TikTok stars,” as one outlet described them. MGMT is back in action and finds new footing in familiar territory.