[7] The group's fourth studio album, titled Little Dark Age, was released in February 2018 and marked the end of their contract with Columbia.

[16] They experimented with noise rock and electronica before settling on what Paco Alvarez of Spin calls "their current brand of shape-shifting psychedelic pop".

[18] VanWyngarden and Goldwasser graduated in 2005 and toured extensively in support of the Time to Pretend EP released in the same year, opening for indie pop band of Montreal.

[22] The duo recorded with Flaming Lips/Sleater-Kinney music producer Dave Fridmann in 2007 for their major label debut, Oracular Spectacular.

Will Berman joined as the new drummer, James Richardson switched from drums to guitar, and Matthew Asti remained on bass.

They headlined this music festival along with other well known bands such as Bloc Party, The Flaming Lips, Happy Mondays, and Jane's Addiction.

[28] MGMT opened for Paul McCartney, an admitted fan,[29] at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, on August 5 and 6, 2009.

On August 15, 2009, MGMT played in Hamburg, Germany, at the Dockville Festival and performed several songs from their upcoming album.

Sonic Boom), formerly of Spacemen 3 and Spectrum, serving as producer/guru, and long-time friend Billy Bennett (also an NCAA record-holding kicker for the University of Georgia), as engineer.

The album cover art for Congratulations was created for MGMT by Anthony Ausgang and the overall design of the packaging is by Josh Cheuse of Sony Entertainment.

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.

[35] In January 2012, MGMT confirmed in an interview with Intercourse Magazine that they had started work on their third album, with VanWyngarden stating that he had written five songs.

[citation needed] In January 2013, NME and Rolling Stone published an interview in which the band announced that the album was tentatively scheduled for a June 2013 release.

[43][44][45] Following VanWyngarden's shoulder surgery in mid-2013, former touring member Hank Sullivant rejoined the band to play live guitar for the remainder of 2013.

[50] In an interview at Falls Festival Marion Bay in 2014, the band announced that they would take a short break and come back stronger with a new sound.

[53] On May 8, 2017, the band released a teaser video on Instagram alongside the title of the forthcoming album as Little Dark Age, following a series of cryptic tweets the week prior.

Little Dark Age was in part shaped by this unique, distanced relationship between the two musicians, who later decided to meet and jointly work together again.

The band has explained that Little Dark Age is both an expression of surprise and dismay to the current political and social climate—particularly the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States—with an occasional reference to their personal lives.

Touring guitarist James Richardson also provided inspiration, which resulted in the song 'James' being dedicated to celebrating the band's friendship.

A photo shared by VanWyngarden on September 21 included the words "elf of soils", which was interpreted as an anagram for Loss of Life.

[59] On May 13, 2023, MGMT played a special set at Just Like Heaven festival in Pasadena, CA for the 15th anniversary of Oracular Spectacular.

The UMP, headed by Nicolas Sarkozy, the former President of France, had used the song "Kids" without permission at a party conference and in two online videos in 2008.

In an official statement, MGMT remarked that "the fact that the UMP used our song without permission while simultaneously pushing anti-piracy legislation seemed a little wack.

In April 2009, the parties settled out of court, and the UMP agreed to pay MGMT around €2,500 for legal fees and €30,000 (US$39,050) for copyright infringement.

[74] They have collaborated with rapper Kid Cudi, and are featured on the single "Pursuit of Happiness" from his album Man on the Moon: The End of Day.

MGMT contributed, alongside Devendra Banhart, Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother and Binki Shapiro of Little Joy.

During the production of Congratulations in 2009, VanWyngarden and Goldwasser met with Lou Reed, the former lead singer and guitarist of The Velvet Underground, about contributing vocals to "Lady Dada's Nightmare".

"[75] In 2010, they provided guest vocals on "Call from the Bank" on rapper Nipsey Hussle's mixtape The Marathon, which would be their last collaborative effort for ten years until 2020, when they contributed vocals to "The Divine Chord" and "Solitary Ceremonies" alongside guitar work by Johnny Marr on electronic group The Avalanches' third studio album We Will Always Love You.