MGMT has offered a final taste of new music ahead of the Feb. 23 release of their upcoming Mom + Pop album Loss Of Life, in the form of “Dancing in Babylon.” The song and video both feature Christine and the Queens’ Chris, marking the first ever duet on an MGMT album.
The “Dancing in Babylon” clip was directed by MGMT’s longtime collaborator Ray Tintori, who previously helmed videos for the band’s classics “Time To Pretend,” “Electric Feel” and “Kids.” It also boasts the talents of the iconic John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), British actor Julian Morris (Pretty Little Liars, New Girl) and his real-life husband, artist Landon Ross.
“I always loved MGMT’s multiverse, their freedom and talent, their limpid songwriting and killer soundscapes. Regal, inspiring,” Chris says of the collaboration. “When they reached out for this power ballad, I was honored and also excited to dive into their dream, because I have the same all-encompassing approach with my work. I loved the backstory of the lyrics as well, and I work my lower register here more than usual. I felt invited into their cool movie, and I’m glad to be now a part of the galaxy. Let’s work on more love in the love galaxy.”
“Creating the ‘Dancing in Babylon’ video with Chris and Ray was a prodigious affair (love), requiring everyone involved to operate in six dimensions at once, all while simultaneously making a simple turkey sandwich with Dijon mustard,” MGMT’s Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser say. “The sandwich that emerged is a cosmic mille-feuille that would be presentable in most high-end French diners.”
“I went back for the second day of shoot – the day where they decided to reinterpret a war scene, but with delirious soldier fits, very Cronenberg, with mushes of brain as knickers and, on my own armor, a pussy-shaped flesh,” Chris continues. “I love how the video developed into this baroque odysseus of love. I love how personal and insane it gets with them. Very rejuvenating and liberating. And also, more utopias like this. Resistance is in our imagination. We can alchemize all this world’s pain and turn it into hope, for a better future. Literally, put flowers back at the end of guns. This is a good song for that. Love songs cure despair. End of transmission.”
Loss Of Life is the long-awaited follow-up to 2018’s Little Dark Age. Loss Of Life was produced by MGMT, along with Patrick Wimberly (Solange, Lil Yachty, Joji). Longtime collaborator Dave Fridmann (The Flaming Lips, Spoon) mixed the album as he has done on the group’s past four full-lengths.
