After the release of Oracular Spectacular , Richardson, Berman and Matthew Asti joined the core band in the studio for Congratulations , which was released on April 13, Beginning in , the duo began producing music independent of a label for the first time since In late , the two released a new song called "In the Afternoon" as their first fully self-produced single. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden formed the band while attending Wesleyan University during their freshman year.
While at Wesleyan, they were schoolmates of Francis and the Lights , with whom they have since toured. In the autumn of , Maureen Kenny signed the band to Columbia Records. Will Berman joined as the new drummer, James Richardson switched from drums to guitar, and Matthew Asti remained on bass. In June the band supported Radiohead on the Manchester date of their world tour [ 26 ] and went on a headline tour of the UK during November , playing at venues such as Manchester Academy and Shepherd's Bush Empire.
MGMT opened for M. They appeared at the and editions of the Bonnaroo Music Festival. Bruce Springsteen was in attendance during their Bonnaroo late-night set, which followed his headlining appearance on What Stage.
They also toured Australia with a headlining spot on the Meredith Music Festival line-up. The group played a show at the Virgin Music Festival on the Toronto Islands on September 6, , playing nine songs off their Oracular Spectacular album.
MGMT originally suggested that they might not release any singles from the album. On March 20, the band allowed users to stream their new album from their website.
