Songfacts®:

• This song was released as the first single from New York-based indie electro rock group MGMT's second album Congratulations. At first it was believed that the duo were not going to release any singles as they saw the album as a complete body of songs rather than a record with standout singles. However, MGMT's Andrew Van Wyngarden told MTV News: "We didn't say that we weren't releasing singles. What we said was that this album didn't really have immediately accessible, catchy dance songs, like the first album had. I don't even know why I said that. But we kind of felt like it's something that's best first listened to as a whole, though, as it turns out, we did release a single. You know, 'Flash Delerium.'"
• Van Wyngarden told MTV News about this song: "It's the most everywhere-at-once song on the album; it's like chaos. It's supposed to be about kind of going nuts and feeling completely overwhelmed, and everything's falling apart. And it's funny to watch people's reactions to it, because it's kind of a love-it-or-hate-it thing. We just kind of kept piecing it together, just wanted to make something that felt like you were going mad. And there's nothing really pleasant about that."
• After the song was made available as a freeload, the response was not entirely positive. MGMT's Ben Goldwasser told Spinner UK: "When we first wrote that song, we were laughing so hard. Andrew just reminded me of that - that we thought it was the funniest thing we'd ever heard. And then we got used to it, it started to sound more normal. It's not a single, but we thought it was a good way to entice people to listen to the whole record. I'm sure there are plenty of people who think it's completely weird and not what they were expecting. I'm sorry."
• The song's music was directed by Andreas Nilsson (Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Moby) and features the MGMT duo attending a bizarre welcome home party. According to publicity materials it "lends a visual clue into the maelstrom and chaos of modern times."
• MGMT drafted in Jennifer Herrema from avant-garage rockers Royal Trux for additional vocals on this track. She also contributed to "Song For Dan Treacy."
• VanWyngarden explained the video's concept to Artist Direct: "For the first album, Ben and I were pretty adamant about being in control of the video concepts and their direction. We worked really closely with Ray Tintori to develop all three videos. This time around, we still had input but we wanted it to be more about directors as artists submitting their ideas of what their video would be like. Ben and I really liked the idea for 'Flash Delirium.' It grew from the original treatment after we chose it. The director, Andreas Nilsson, was a really cool guy with a crazy mind. Obviously, crazy minds can think of what's in that video [Laughs]. Ben and I really connected with that. It was a one-day shoot. We didn't want it to just echo the theme of the song of things falling apart and not making any sense really."