Photo from YouTube.
MGMT have dropped the fourth single from its upcoming fifth studio album, Loss of Life. “Dancing in Babylon” features French singer-songwriter Chris of Christine and the Queens on vocals, who also stars in a self-consciously camp music video. This release marks the first feature included on any MGMT record.
“Dancing in Babylon” pays homage to eighties power ballads with stripped-back piano, pulsing synths and a vocal duet between Chris and MGMT’s Andrew VanWyngarden. With high-concept flair, the music video flips between a post-apocalyptic love story between two soldiers and footage of the band in slick, gothic new-wave garb in a low-lit warehouse, where Chris dances alongside John Cameron Mitchell of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. This grand vision was directed by longtime MGMT collaborator Ray Tintori, who also brought to life the videos for “Time to Pretend,” “Electric Feel” and “Kids.”
“Dancing in Babylon” arrives only three days before MGMT will release its fifth full-length album, Loss of Life, on February 23. Patrick Wimberly, Oneohtrix Point Never and MGMT band member James Richardson are credited as producers, while Dave Fridmann provided mixing. Loss of Life is the first album MGMT have released on the independent label Mom + Pop Records, after parting ways with Columbia Records following the release of 2018’s Little Dark Age.
Beyond a planned series of in-person listening sessions in cities including London, New York and Mexico City, MGMT will livestream an album launch event which fans can still sign up to attend. The event will air at 10:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, Feb. 22.
Loss of Life is available for pre-save at whoismgmt.com. Watch the music video for “Dancing in Babylon” below.
