MGMT BLOG: 2010-2011 "Congratulations (2010)" - Writing, Realeases, Charts, Song Listings, Ranks, Performances, Tours, Cover Art

Congratulations is the second major label studio album released on April 13, 2010. The band, including Matthew Asti, James Richardson, and Will Berman from the live band. The album is a departure from the synthpop style that first brought the band acclaim on their major label debut, Oracular Spectacular, and features a more progressive, guitar-driven sound. There were 66,000 copies of the album sold in its first week of release in the UK, making it the best sales week ever for the group. In the 18 months since, however, the album has only sold another 11,000 copies (in the UK).

They began writing the tracks in early 2009 in a "small cabin in the woods" in upstate New York. They eventually headed to a Malibu studio to work on the album with producer Pete Kember. VanWyngarden has stated that the album is influenced by the band's massive rise in popularity since Oracular Spectacular's release. "It's us trying to deal with all the craziness that's been going on since our last album took off. Sometimes it just doesn't feel natural."

On January 12, 2010, Andrew Van Wyngarden declared the album finished in an interview on the Spin Magazine website, saying: "It's mixed and mastered, and now we're just working on presenting it to the world"

On January 18, they stated that they would prefer not to release any singles from the album. In an interview with NME, they explained their reasoning behind it—that it's meant to be a complete body of songs rather than an album with standout singles. "We'd rather people hear the whole album as an album and see what tracks jump out rather than the ones that get played on the radio – if anything gets played on the radio!" Goldwasser explained. He added: "There definitely isn't a 'Time to Pretend' or a 'Kids' on the album. We've been talking about ways to make sure people hear the album as an album in order and not just figure out what are the best three tracks, download those and not listen to the rest of it. They were also nominated for (Best album artwork) at the NME Awards 2011

On February 5, 2010, a countdown clock appeared on the band's website alongside a short still of a beach. The clock would eventually count down to 12:00 AM (EST) the morning of April 13, 2010, hinting the new album would be released on that day.

On March 20, 2010, the band made the album available for streaming on their official website. They also stated that they "wanted to offer it as a free download but that didn't make sense to anyone but [them]."

Charts (2010) Peak Position

Australian Albums Chart 9

Canadian Albums Chart 4

Danish Albums Chart 19

French Albums Chart 7

Irish Albums Chart 5

UK Albums Chart 4

US Billboard 200 2

Scottish Albums Chart 6

Track Listings:

All lyrics written by Andrew VanWyngarden, all music composed by Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser.

No. Title Length

1. "It's Working" 4:06

2. "Song for Dan Treacy" 4:09

3. "Someone's Missing" 2:29

4. "Flash Delirium" 4:15

5. "I Found a Whistle" 3:40

6. "Siberian Breaks" 12:09

7. "Brian Eno" 4:31

8. "Lady Dada's Nightmare" 4:31

9. "Congratulations" 3:55

Total length: 43:53

The album was released onto iTunes with an additional track for those who pre-ordered the release digitally. The bonus track "Inbetween the Liners" consists of an instrumental outtake from the Congratulations sessions, with producer Peter Kember reading the album's liner notes out loud.

Andrew VanWyngarden has stated that "Siberian Breaks" is his favorite track of the album.

The cover art is done by Anthony Ausgang, known for his kitschy Lowbrow art style, his favorite song of the album being "Song for Dan Treacy".

On March 15, 2011 they released an EP of remixes of three songs from the album ("Congratulations", "Siberian Breaks" and "Brian Eno") entitled Congratulations Remixes.

The album received mostly positive reviews upon its release, and a 72/100 metascore at Metacritic, based upon 39 reviews. Pitchfork Media deemed the album "Audacious, ambitious, and a little fried." NME got a first listen of the album and described it as a mix of "Frenetic, brief psych nuggets... echo-drenched mini epic tendencies" and some "classic MGMT". As previously indicated by its creators, the review went on to say the album contained nothing in the way of "Kids-esque pop singles," adding that "It instead delves deeper into the sprawling, psychedelic sounds that characterized the second half of Oracular Spectacular." The article mentioned that "Flash Delirium" was being considered as a taster for the album, which the band had stated would not have any singles released from it in order to solidify it existing as a single body of work. It should be noted here that over the course of 2010, the band did eventually release several singles and EPs with songs from the album. MGMT have described the album as "A collection of nine individual musical tours de force sequenced to flow with sonic and thematic coherence." Writer Shelby Powell noted the group's homage to British rock musicians Dan Treacy of Television Personalities singer and song writer. And Brian Eno, (Inspired by the English musician, Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno) complete with faux accents in MGMT's delivery on a few songs. Eno, described the work as "Very flattering", and added: "I appreciate the way they managed to make the song both fond and tongue in cheek at the same time." Also apparent on the album was the group's discomfort with their newfound mass acceptance, citing "The cryptic lyrics bemoan the façade of the pair's new superspectacular poplife." What's more, The Boston Globe noted that "Perhaps most telling is the title track, which closes the album on an introspective note. A relatively straightforward coda, the song ends with a gesture the album rightly deserves: the sound of applause."

Rolling Stone (pp.63-64) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "The album testifies to MGMT's restlessness as songwriters and human beings....The set closes with the title track, a spangled folk rocker about the weight of success..."

Entertainment Weekly (p.70) - "This odd little sonic onion ultimately rewards those patient enough to peel the layers." -- Grade: B

Billboard (p.32) - "The album blends psychedelia with elements of post-punk, surf rock and even folk. The track 'Someone's Missing' begins sparsely with soft guitars and sitar-like effects that echo the falsetto vocals before swelling into an easygoing funk jam."

Mojo (Publisher) (p.96) - 5 stars out of 5 -- "The album explodes with the colour of British psychedelia and bulges at the seams with irresistible melodies....A weird, wonderful, complete work..."

Mojo (Publisher) (p.57) - Ranked #3 in Mojo's "The 50 Best Albums Of 2010" -- "CONGRATULATIONS was elegant, tuneful and mind-blowing..."

Paste (magazine) (p.89) - "In between enlightened ramblings, the band interjects a refrain that bursts forth brighter than a July sun and cues up psychedelic moments that wash ashore like the calmest of waves."

Uncut (magazine) (p.87) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "This is a willful and lovably eccentric second album from a band who've decided they'd had a sniff of being pop stars and decided they'd much rather be weird and esoteric, thanks all the same."

MGMT started their Congratulations Tour on April 12, 2010, in San Francisco, California, at The Fillmore. They performed on April 23 at Brown University's Spring Weekend; on April 27 at Yale University's Spring Fling; on April 30 at the University of New Hampshire's Spring Climax; and on May 1 at Fordham University's Spring Weekend.

They performed on Saturday Night Live on April 24, 2010, and on the Late Show With David Letterman on May 11 to promote their new album, and on June 11, MGMT played their largest headlining show anywhere in the world with a sold-out, 9,500 capacity gig at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado. On June 25, MGMT performed on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and on July 23, they were the musical guests on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

On March 9, 2010, the band released the song "Flash Delirium" as a free download. The video premiered on MGMT's website on March 30, 2010.

The video for "It's Working" premiered on June 15, 2010 on their website.

On August 25, 2010, MGMT released a music video for "Congratulations", the third video of their second album. MGMT was one of the third tier bands for the 2010 Coachella Festival in Indio, California. The event draws nearly 120,000 attendees annually. On October 31, 2010, the band performed for the Voodoo Experience in New Orleans, Louisiana. The band decided to dress as the main characters from Scooby-Doo for Halloween; Andrew dressed up as Daphne and Ben dressed up as Velma. They headlined at Fun Fun Fun Fest which was held at Waterloo Park in Austin, Texas on November 6, 2010. The performance was the last show in the US for MGMT in 2010. Their first 2011 gig was at Mar del Plata, Argentina, in front of a crowd of more than 40,000 on the beach in a free event which they headlined.

MGMT began their first Asian tour on February 22, 2011.

On September 22, 2011 MGMT performed the Pink Floyd song "Lucifer Sam" during Late Night with Jimmy Fallon's "Pink Floyd Week".

Interview in Athens, Greece about the release of "Congratulations" with Performance clips from "Climbing To New Lows" and "Oracular Spectacular"