'Deep Conversation' Led Christine and the Queens and MGMT to Make Their 'Dream' Collaboration 'Dancing in Babylon' (Exclusive)

The latest single off the indie icons' upcoming album 'Loss of Life' and its music video was released on Tuesday

Last year Chris from Christine and the Queens received news that at first felt like it was out of a “dream” — and then quickly inspired him to jump out of sheer joy.

The French indie star, 35, was contacted by none other than one of his favorite artists, psychedelic-pop mavens MGMT — whom he had previously spoken about as his dream collaborator — to work with on a track on their forthcoming fifth studio album.

They ended up creating “Dancing in Babylon,” a stunning ‘80s-inspired power ballad and visual off the duo’s new album Loss of Life (due out Friday via Mom + Pop), that encapsulates feelings about love and sincerity that the artists had been wrestling with when they wrote it.

“I've always been a true fan of their music,” says Chris of MGMT’s Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden. “I had a lover in my life that lived in London, too, and we shared a common passion for MGMT records at that time.”

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He adds, “As a musician, I always listen to the music with both my emotion and my own practice. They helped me make music.”

While it wasn’t until VanWyngarden, 41, met the singer-songwriter in the studio in Paris that their collaboration became fully formed, he explains that when the track evolved from a Eurohouse beat to a dreamy ‘80s synth soundscape he and Goldwasser, 41, realized it could be a duet.

“When it was in this sort of ‘80s half time power ballad zone, we really didn't think of anybody else,” says VanWyngarden of working with the Christine and the Queens frontperson.

Once the lead vocalist and the “People, I’ve been sad” artist met in the studio, they realized just how fruitful — and how emotionally fulfilling — the collaboration would be. VanWyngarden reflects, “We discussed where we were at with the emotions and the intentions that we wanted to put into music. And there was a lot of crossover — just thinking about love and loss and with this spiritual dimension that isn't sort of psychedelic, it's not religious, but it's sincere.”

“Trying to grapple with that as an artist is a real challenge,” he continues. “And I saw Chris doing the same.”

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“He was ready for the deep conversation and me too,” the hitmaker, who also goes by Redcar, says of their conversation that led to writing the heartfelt song about leaning into love. “I think it's sometimes if you pick that frequency, you pick it together.”

The music video also marked a full circle moment for MGMT. The indie icons reunited with director Ray Tintori, who they attended Wesleyan University with and helmed music videos for hits like “Electric Feel,” “Kids” and “Time to Pretend” off their seminal 2007 debut studio album Oracular Spectacular.

Along with the Little Dark Age group and the French star, the video also features actor/filmmaker John Cameron Mitchell, actor Julian Morris and his husband Landon Ross and MGMT’s longtime collaborator and former college classmate, choreographer Max Goldblatt. Like many of the synth-pop favorites’ art, the visual tells a hallucinogenic story — this one through queer love and commitment — that also happens to include ‘80s futurism fashion, a video game set in a war zone and a sandwich.

“I don't think I've ever seen [Tintori] say no,” Goldwasser shares. “It started with the idea of the love story and then working backwards from that and adding the dream layers. And then the sandwich and the video game was like the icing on the cake.”

The multi-instrumentalist and VanWyngarden both explain that the seeds for the video and its reunion — described by Chris as “very [The] Notebook, ‘I’ve been waiting for this” — were planted back in spring 2023 when they reconnected with Goldblatt, who choreographed their set at Just Like Heaven music festival.

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In the video, the Paranoia, Angels, True Love musician dances with the Hedwig and the Angry Inch star, 60, who signed onto the project just days before when Chris’ friend from the theater world connected them. He ended up being a “wonderful partner” and “thrilled by the energy” of the set, as the musician says.

The queer romance at the center of the visual also ties back to the initial concept behind the song that the Christine and the Queens artist was drawn to. “I remember when [MGMT] sent the song, [they] said it was a love song between two guys, and you also had this love story in mind,” he recalls. “I could project myself and I thought it was just a sexy idea, as well, to provide a true torch love story for two men in love.”

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Essentially, the entire project — with its creative freedom and the long-lasting relationship at its helm — harkens back to VanWyngarden and Chris’ candidness when they first approached the song in Paris.

“I think that part of the success of the video is the conversation that Chris and I had in Paris was about relationships and love and these sort of profound things that you experienced as a human,” says Vanwyngarden. “There's real chemistry and emotion — and it is cool to make something that's ultimately for a pop song, but that has true depth.”

Chris couldn’t agree more. The "Girlfriend" singer says, “This collaboration for me was very useful at the moment where it's good to be reminded by all the questers of the energy to put in the work. And I think the energy is very important with whom you work and how you protect the imagination and even how you dream.”

He adds, “It was a fresher stream of water for me in my face — a reminder of, ‘It's importance to focus on the energy because quest is way more joyful.’”

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