Congratulations
 | The English used in this article or section is in the process of being made simple, and may not yet be easy for everybody to understand. |
Congratulations is the second studio album by the band MGMT. It features more of a psychedelic sound, unlike their previous album, Oracular Spectacular, which featured more of a synth-pop sound. Congratulations debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 with 66,000 copies sold in its first week. In the UK, it debuted at number four on the UK Albums Chart, selling 17,000 copies in its first week. The band recorded the album over the course of 2 1/2 years, from February 2008 through January 2010. The band debuted date tracks on The Oracular Spectacular Tour Between January and June 2009.[1] MGMT first confirmed the new song for 2010 on October 8, 2008. On October 7, 2009, MGMT released a new song called Flash Deilrium.[2]
Background
Speaking to Spin magazine on January 12, 2010, Andrew VanWyngarden, MGMT's vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist declared that the album was finished, saying, "it's mixed and mastered, and now [they're] just working on presenting it to the world."[3] On January 18, 2010 MGMT stated that they would prefer not to release any singles from the album.[4]
In an interview with NME, Ben Goldwasser, musician and songwriter with MGMT explained that the group would "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!" He also said songs Time to Pretend' or 'Kids' were not on the album. They had 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".[4]
Singles
Despite the band's pledge to not release singles, the album's lead single, "Flash Delirium" was made available as a free download on their website on March 9, 2010, before being generally released on March 23.[5]
The second single, "Siberian Breaks" was released on April 17. "It's Working" was released on June 26 as the third single. The album's title track was also released as the fourth and final single from the album on November 26.
Artwork
The cover art was designed by Anthony Ausgang, known for his unique, cheesy art style.[6] The artwork depicts a hedgehog-like animal on a surfboard, surfing on a wave that is anthropomorphized as a cat about to swallow the creature. Commenting on the composition of the artwork, Ausgang stated that he tried to "use bright colors and get across ideas that are slightly dark."[7]
Release
In February 2008 the band began recording. In January 2010, VanWyngarden said that they would prefer not to release any singles from the album. The band On December 13, 2009, the group announced there was a new album coming out In Early 2010 for the album to kick new futuristic decades kick off New Year new single form after recovering 2 1/2 year hiatus from releasing their 2007 debut album Oracular Spectacular for Drama The album was announced twice On January 26, 2010, On January 4, 2010 - February 18, 2010, MGMT unveil the album artwork for their album for year On November 3, 2007, that weekend the group was playing At The Austin Texas festival called fun fun fun festival or 2007 MGMT played were wrreoicndgn the album April 23, 2009, the lamb I still in the works not too long in 2007 - early 2008 MGMT released their first album Oracular Spectacular the second album is a departure from their 2007 debut album Oracular Spectacular October 16, 2009, the group's new songs are in 2010 by March 2010 MGMT special concerts to promote the stream release of their second album Congratulations.
ARTIST
MGMT
RELEASED
April 13, 2010
Mid 2010-late 2013 (Radio Release)
RECORDED
Early 2008-Early 2010
LENGTH
43:53
LABEL
Columbia
PRODUCER
MGMT • Sonic Boom
| 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 |
iTunes Store pre-order bonus track
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Inbetween the Liners | 6:35 |
Japanese re-release bonus tracks
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Flash Delirium (BBC Radio 1 Session) | 4:16 |
| 11 | "Brian Eno" (BBC Radio 1 Session) | 4:29 |
| 12 | "It's Working" (BBC Radio 1 Session) | 4:10 |
| 13 | "It's Working" (Air Remix) | 4:35 |
| 14 | "Brian Eno" (Cornelius Remix) | 4:20 |
| 15 | "Flash Delirium" (music video) | 4:23 |
| 16 | "It's Working" (music video) | 4:09 |
References
- ↑ NME Home - Music, Film, TV, Gaming & Pop Culture News (in en-GB). NME. Retrieved 2024-12-06.
- ↑ NME Home - Music, Film, TV, Gaming & Pop Culture News (in en-GB). NME. Retrieved 2024-12-08.
- ↑ Goodman, William. Q&A: MGMT's Andrew Van Wyngarden (January 18, 2010).
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 We're not releasing any singles from our new album. NME (January 18, 2010). Retrieved January 25, 2010.
- ↑ Dombal, Ryan. Wild New MGMT Song: "Flash Delirium" | News. Pitchfork (2010-03-09). Retrieved 2012-01-10.
- ↑ Anthony Ausgang – MGMT. Ausgangart.com. Retrieved 2012-01-10.
- ↑ Dansby, Andrew (June 13, 2010). Anthony Ausgang's work for MGMT shows bond between art, music. https://www.chron.com/entertainment/article/Anthony-Ausgang-s-work-for-MGMT-shows-bond-1695852.php. Retrieved April 5, 2018.