Album Review: MIA - MAYA + Win A Copy

One thing Maya Arulpragasam (MIA) could never accused of is being boring. She’s remarkably polarising – it’s easy to hate her sloganeering, her use of rhythm (to the point of overpowering melody, which for some people may be important) and her constructed persona. However, for her fans (such as me) she showcased the changing way of distributing music with her debut while simultaneously making herself a star (Piracy Funds Terrorism and Arular) and then wrote one of the last decade’s most excellent albums Kala (the perfect example of form informing content), an album which blended politics, multitude of references, and sheer punk energy into one of the most exciting albums around. However, the slow-burning success of that album got to the point where her public persona overshadowed the release of her latest album – which included a hatchet job of an interview with the New York Times (the Times issued a rare acknowledgement of getting it wrong in the print version) and a highly controversial video for single ‘Born Free’. But what of the music? Maya is a disappointment. However, like MIA at her best, it’s still a compelling listen – just without the songs to really match her talents.

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