MGMT have released ‘When You Die’, the second single from their upcoming album Little Dark Age. The song angles harder into the goth aesthetic explored on the albums debut single ‘Little Dark Age.’
Featuring acoustic guitar enmeshed with delicate, plucky synthesizers, the songs echoing soundscape has frontman Andrew Vanwyngarden spitting harsh phrases like, “go fuck yourself” and “I’m not nice… I’m gonna eat your heart out.” Whereas first single ‘Little Dark Age’ explored fetish and haunted frames of mind, ‘When You Die’ is an excursion into occultist visions of mortality and the afterlife. The songs chorus is more paired back than its verse, which proves to be an engaging contrast. “When you die words don’t mean anything, it’s permanently night” utters the Wyngarden in the chorus. These lyrics offer a grave juxtaposition to the sentiments expressed in the songs verse: the futility of attitudes that impose isolation on living.
The duo’s new image and creative direction sets aside the groups ongoing embrace of radical musical experimentation, as can be heard on the follow-up to Oracular Spectacular, Congratulations (and subsequent releases). Little Dark Age is expected to be released in early 2018.