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Little Dark Age (song)

"Little Dark Age" is a song by American rock band MGMT. It was released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, Little Dark Age, on October 17, 2017, through Columbia Records. In an interview with Newsweek, Andrew VanWyngarden, the lead vocalist, guitar player and songwriter for the band stated that 1980s Soviet synth-pop was influential to the song.[3]

"Little Dark Age"
Single by MGMT
from the album Little Dark Age
ReleasedOctober 17, 2017
Genre
Length4:59
LabelColumbia
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)Andrew VanWyngarden
Producer(s)
MGMT singles chronology
"Cool Song No. 2"
(2013) 		"Little Dark Age"
(2017) 		"When You Die"
(2017)

Release

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Leading up to the song's release, the band made several posts on their social media hyping up the album and then upcoming single. On October 12, 2017, the band posted a video clip of the beginning instrumental of the song to their social media with the caption "#LittleDarkAge". "Little Dark Age" was released as a digital single on October 17 through Columbia Records. The song was released with an accompanying music video.[2][4]

Artwork

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The cover artwork for the single is taken directly from a work of Japanese manga artist Suehiro Maruo.[5] In the text-bubble, the character states the following: "Oh, OK. It's bad to ask for something without offering something in return. So I will show you some magic. No tricks here. I call this 'Discovery of Africa.'"[6]

Critical reception

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"Little Dark Age" received generally positive reviews from critics. Writing for Spin, Jeremy Gordon called the song "grim and playful". He said the song and video were "dark, but only a little, and the vibe feels appropriate for where they are now—older, and without office jobs, but recognizant of what's still gone wrong."[4]

Music video

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The music video for "Little Dark Age", directed by David MacNutt and Nathaniel Axel, premiered on October 17, 2017.[7] The video was considered out of character and surprisingly gothic for the band. Jeremy Gordon of Spin called the video "Dada-esque".[4] As of August 2022, the video has been viewed over 100 million times through the band's official Vevo account on YouTube.[8]

Resurgence and online usage

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In late 2020, it experienced a resurgence in popularity due to a viral TikTok trend where hundreds of thousands utilized the song.[9] A report published in August 2021 by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue found that "Little Dark Age" was "by far the most popular Sound among extremist creators on TikTok" and was central to videos promoting "Hyperborea and a wider trend of esoteric Nazism."[10][11] The song has also been used to soundtrack clips of anime, superhero movies, video games, Renaissance art as well as a wide range of social issues, including transgender rights, the Black Lives Matter movement and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[9]

In 2024, Alexis Petridis of The Guardian wrote: "Certainly its adoption doesn't say much for your average neo-Nazi's ability to understand English. Little Dark Age's lyrics are, fairly obviously, an excoriation of Trump-era America and racist police violence."[12]

On June 29, 2024, an election campaign advertisement using a slowed-down, unauthorized version of the song was posted to Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Rishi Sunak's X account, promoting the Conservative Party's stance on the British Military.[13][14] The video was also posted to Sunak's account on Facebook, from which it was removed on July 1. The band has sent numerous takedown notices sent to X and a cease and desist letter sent to the Tories, but the video has not been removed from the site. On July 4 (UK election day), MGMT responded to the Conservative Party's usage of the song in a statement to NME: "How many times do we have to remind you jokers that this song is NOT fair game for your utter garbage? Let's all laugh at this dingus. Clock's ticking, mate. Happy Independence Day".[15]

Credits

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Charts

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Chart (2017) Peak
position
Mexico Ingles Airplay (Billboard)[16] 37
US Alternative Digital Songs (Billboard)[17] 23
US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[18] 32
Chart (2021) Peak
position
Lithuania (AGATA)[19] 85

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
France (SNEP)[20] Gold 100,000‡
Mexico (AMPROFON)[21] Gold 30,000‡
Poland (ZPAV)[22] Platinum 50,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[23] Gold 400,000‡
United States (RIAA)[24] 2× Platinum 2,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ Witmer, Phil (October 17, 2017). "MGMT Return as True Goths for Spooky Synth-Banger "Little Dark Age"". Noisey. Archived from the original on October 20, 2017. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
  2. ^ a b Lozano, Kevin (October 17, 2017). "MGMT – "Little Dark Age"". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on October 17, 2017. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
  3. ^ Schonfeld, Zach (February 15, 2018). "MGMT on 'Little Dark Age,' political dread and the joys of Soviet-era synth-pop". Newsweek. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c Gordon, Jeremy (October 17, 2017). "MGMT's Comeback Single Little Dark Age" Is Grim And Playful". Spin. Archived from the original on October 20, 2017. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
  5. ^ "LDA Artwork Source • r/mgmt". Reddit. October 21, 2017. Archived from the original on October 28, 2021. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  6. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 25, 2017. Retrieved December 3, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ^ Blais-Billie, Braudie (October 17, 2017). "Watch MGMT's Video for New Song "Little Dark Age"". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on October 18, 2017. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  8. ^ "MGMT – Little Dark Age (Video)". MGMT. October 17, 2017. Archived from the original on October 17, 2017. Retrieved October 19, 2020 – via YouTube.
  9. ^ a b Cohen, Jonathan (March 10, 2022). "How MGMT's 'Little Dark Age' Became An Unstoppable TikTok Meme". Spin. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  10. ^ O'Connor, Ciarán (August 24, 2021). "Hatescape: An In-Depth Analysis of Extremism and Hate Speech on TikTok" (PDF). Institute for Strategic Dialogue. p. 31. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  11. ^ Nguyen, Kevin (August 24, 2021). "Nazis and incels are using Gotye and MGMT to evade TikTok's auto-moderators, report finds". ABC News. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  12. ^ Petridis, Alexis (February 22, 2024). "MGMT: Loss of Life review – surprise TikTok stars play to their strengths". The Guardian. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  13. ^ Sunak, Rishi [@RishiSunak] (June 29, 2024). "As threats rise we will always back our Armed Forces.
    Strengthening them to defend our nation and our values 🇬🇧"     (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. ^ Martin, Samuel (July 3, 2024). "A right-wing youthquake?". The Critic. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  15. ^ England, Adam (July 4, 2024). "MGMT hit back at Tory Party for using 'Little Dark Age' in General Election advert: "Let's all laugh at this dingus – clock's ticking, mate"". NME. Retrieved July 5, 2024.
  16. ^ "MGMT Chart History (Mexico Ingles Airplay)". Billboard. Archived from the original on February 19, 2019. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  17. ^ "MGMT Chart History (Alternative Digital Song Sales)". Billboard. Archived from the original on February 19, 2019. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  18. ^ "MGMT Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  19. ^ "2021 44-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. November 5, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
  20. ^ "French single certifications – MGMT – Little Dark Age" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
  21. ^ "Certificaciones" (in Spanish). Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Retrieved November 11, 2022. Type MGMT in the box under the ARTISTA column heading and Little Dark Age in the box under the TÍTULO column heading.
  22. ^ "OLiS - oficjalna lista wyróżnień" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved February 22, 2023. Click "TYTUŁ" and enter Little Dark Age in the search box.
  23. ^ "British single certifications – MGMT – Little Dark Age". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  24. ^ "American single certifications – MGMT – Little Dark Age". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved February 9, 2024.
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