- Release date:
- August 21, 2007
- Artist/Band name:
- MIA
- Record label:
- Interscope
- Official Web Site:
- http://www.myspace.com/mia
- Overall User Rating:
-
(1 rating)
Why you should care: In the two years since the release of “Arular,” the scene has suddenly been overrun with bad girls boasting big beats and bigger attitudes, from Amanda Blank to Uffie. Meanwhile, while M.I.A. did open some shows for Gwen Stefani, visa issues kept her out of America for most of the recording of “Kala,” jeopardizing planned sessions with the likes of super-producer Timbaland. But when the first two tracks from the CD, “Bird Flu” and “XR2,” leaked onto the internet, their fiery, explosive energy set the stage for an amazing new album. Was it even possible for M.I.A. to live up to the deafening hype?
Verdict: M.I.A. has casually tossed a sonic hand grenade in the direction of anyone who didn’t think she could deliver an album superior to “Arular.” Where most of that disc featured variations on a rhythmic theme, “Kala” dazzles with a panorama of inventive and effortlessly funky beats fresh from ghettoes of Trinidad and India. From the Bollywood disco of “Jimmy” to the narcoleptic buzz of “20 Dollar” (which references New Order and the Pixies simultaneously), M.I.A. has dropped the summer’s most potent dance orchestrations. “Boyz” bitch-slaps “Hollaback Girl” straight back to the suburbs and “Bamboo Banga” is dark, grimy and deliciously dirty.
X-Factor: The sole Timbaland production, “Come Around,” is an outtake that outshines anything on the producer’s recent solo album. Here, it pales in comparison to the kaleidoscopic beats that surround it.
