MGMT, “Loss Of Life.”

Pop duo MGMT has long been on the forefront of an electronic-meets-analog sound. Fifth album Loss of Life finds Andrew VanWyngarden and Benjamin Goldwasser leaning further into their organic side. The album’s 10 tracks are lush and weighty, some stretching upward of five minutes. That room allows the band plenty of space to explore and expound on a more laidback, melodic sound.

An extended musical jam kicks off the album, mixing synths and a toy chest full of percussive odds and ends over top of what a monotone voice reading the work of a 6th century Welsh poet. The opener launches into the luminous and bright “Mother Nature,” a piano-driven acoustic track with a relaxed melody

“You know it’s turbulent from the start/ And I understand it’s not your nature/ But you need a friend/ To take you home,” VanWyngarden and Goldwasser sing in harmony. The song sounds a bit like Oasis, with a dose of fuzzy rock.

The soaring “Dancing in Babylon” is a fascinating track that feels sonically in the same orbit as its predecessor, yet with an entirely different instrumental feel. Gone are the acoustic guitars and pianos, replaced with a range of percussion and keyboards. The vocals are defined, nuanced, and gorgeously recorded in a minor key feel that blooms into a lush crescendo.

There’s an almost cinematic feel to the dramatic rise and fall of “People in the Streets,” an expansive and complex tune that mixes in the natural ambiance of chants from an amassed crowd.

What makes Loss of Life, the duo’s first album since 2018’s Little Dark Age, so interesting is that many of these songs don’t have any obvious comparison from either the duo’s peers or predecessors. Maybe David Bowie. Maybe. The unusual “Bubblegum Dog” at times sounds a little like Bowie with a dash of the Talking Heads and, occasionally, Tom Petty. But it doesn’t try to be any one of them. The carnival of sound is highlighted by some top-notch heavy fuzz guitar work in a Deep South blues-drenched guitar solo.

MGMT strips the sound down on “Nothing to Declare” while still filling the track with acoustic strings and hand percussion. It’s one of the slower songs on the record, but flow with a life that gives it a restrained energy. The album’s longest track, “Nothing Changes,” brings a horn section into the mix, pitting the guitars together to create a beautiful synchronicity.

The quietly haunting “Phradie’s Song” is intricate and well-arranged. Some super sleuths of the band speculate the song may be a reference to 1890s opera singer Phradie Wells, whose sister, Velma, shares a surname with VanWyngarden.

Comparatively straight ward yet still moving “I Wish I Was Joking” is a gem with a quietly sung vocal and foundation awash in reverb that transports listeners away. Album closer “Loss Of Life” (which shares a name with the album-opening interlude) feels orchestral in its arrangement, even with the strings playing a supporting role to the rest of the track.

The vocals even fit in with the music, sitting lower in the mix, almost acting as an instrument on their own. MGMT’s latest entry is one in which the band takes on a different, but satisfying sound.

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.