MGMT's 2018 album Little Dark Age was touted as their "return to pop," turning away from the unabashed weirdness that came after the massive mainstream appeal and era-defining hooks of their 2007 debut. While slightly less experimental than the studio-as-instrument production and pleasantly freaky art rock of 2010's Congratulations or their self-titled 2013 album, the songs weren't especially riveting, and the lack of wild sounds only further illuminated how the band seemed to be struggling. Their fifth studio album, Loss of Life, finds MGMT regaining their balance and evenly distributing the strange and the accessible across a set of songs that explore alien interpretations of soft rock, synth pop epics, and the kind of psychedelic wonderment that has long been the center of the band's craft. The flow of the album is relatively straightforward, without too many hard turns or abrupt flips between disparate genres. The first few songs -- "Mother Nature," "Dancing in Babylon" (a lovely duet with Christine and the Queens), and the paranoia disguised as melodrama in "People in the Streets" -- are all deftly constructed pop tunes that bring to mind several eras of radio slickness. Without ever directly aping any single style, there are dashes of '90s adult alternative balladry, '80s gated reverb and FM synth tones, and fretless bass that could sound at home on a Don Henley hit nestled alongside fluttering synths that feel borrowed from Oneohtrix Point Never (Daniel Lopatin contributes guest production on at least one song). When things do change gears it's subtle, as on the surprisingly catchy oddball grunge pop song "Bubblegum Dog," a track that tunes in to the Flaming Lips influence that often surfaces in MGMT's mixing and production choices. "Phradie's Song" breaks up the record's slick composure with some sweetly goofy acid-folk affectations, and the title track closes out the album with brittle, spacious space-age pop. The song builds on Air-like atmospheric pop to include grandiose chamber pop horns and electronic eruptions before finally melting down into a pool of digital noise. Loss of Life is restrained for MGMT's track record, still managing to express personality and abstract thinking (musical and lyrical) while keeping huge melodies in the forefront. It's not a return to form, a return to pop, or really a return of any kind, just a continuation of the band's blissfully weird frames of mind and a record that includes some of their strongest songs in years. ~ Fred Thomas