A shimmering curtain of Eno-incensed atmospherics, a muted kick drum, a dry guitar figure. Then Jim James, dressed in reverb, declares he is "going back to my childhood way." And so he does on a track that recalls 2001's At Dawn more than 2008's genre-hopping Evil Urges: Vigorous acoustic strumming teases an arena crescendo, drops out for a verse, then all the guitars kick in, classic MMJ with a dash of the Edge and a dollop of Neil Young. The title track of the forthcoming LP will be a live burner, no doubt. Here, it's a philosophical stalemate whose sonic bliss-out feels too short, even at seven-plus minutes. But it's still plenty blissful.

Listen to "Circuital":

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“Time to Pretend”

Listening to MGMT’s breakthrough song, one might interpret it as being about the excesses of rock stardom, but it’s actually about the duo’s pet praying mantis. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden told Rolling Stone they got the idea from the insect's jerky movements. The mantis died, but the two bandmates kept the egg sack and allowed the hundreds of eggs to hatch. “We tried to name them all, but they died after a day,” said Goldwasser, with VanWyngarden chiming in, “But the praying mantis dance inspired us.”