This piece of art made by Pop Surrealist Anthony Ausgang is the MGMT artwork for forthcoming album Congratulations and this is what the artist says in a recent interview on how it all came to fruition:
I met Andrew and Ben from MGMT through the experimental musician Sonic Boom of Spacemen 3 and Spectrum, for whom I had done album cover art in the past. MGMT was recording “Congratulations” at a mansion in Malibu so I went there a couple of times to hang out and watch the process unfold. Not being a musician I was occasionally left to my own devices so I would sit around and draw on pieces of paper then leave them there when I went home.
I got along well with the band and gave them copies of my book, Vacation From Reality. Later, Josh Cheuse, the art director from Sony, contacted me once the recording was finished. The most important thing was that MGMT wanted the “look” of my style of painting and gave me only a few points that I had to hit. Naturally the process took some time but they were always cool with the criticisms. A lot of people who commission a painting only know what they don’t want; fortunately MGMT knew what they wanted and let me do it my way.
Contrary to what seems to be flowing through the web, Congratulations will have singles released from it, the band have been misquoted in a recent interview whilst referring to not having songs equally as catchy as the likes of Kids. Look out for this record in April as insiders who have heard it say that it is the best psychedelic treat your ears will dine upon this year.