Matangi

"Album number four is a return to form and, despite all the kerfuffle surrounding its conception, it might even be her best yet. Where Maya was oppressive, Matangi is, in large part, joyful. Somehow those cacophonic opening tracks are not only coherent but compelling too - thrilling and exuberant in a way MIA's output hasn't been for some time".

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"The record's lushest moments come when the tempo slows, as on the radio-ready "Come Walk With Me", an olive branch to Arulpragasam's myriad haters. The track marries her globalized musical perspective to a classic pop vocal, swerves into a galloping dance rhythm, and then merges them into an anthem that concludes: "I'm gonna still fux with you." On the back half of the album, "Double Bubble Trouble" is almost certainly a Major Lazer track, marrying reggae, dancehall, drag's codeine vocals, and southern hip-hop".

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"It's probably appropriate that Matangi's most personal and most incisive moment comes in the snippet-y interlude, "Boom Skit", since it brings you into Arulpragasam's world, only to cut itself off before it really gets going. At her most raw and confrontational, "Boom Skit" also finds M.I.A. as vulnerable as she was when no one knew who she was, brashly and wryly rapping, "Brown girl, brown girl, turn your shit down / You know America don't want to hear your sound." Except that's exactly the sound you want to hear from her, the socially minded M.I.A. who's free flowing and free associating, breathlessly linking her Super Bowl fiasco ("Let you into Super Bowl / You tried to steal Madonna's crown") to drone warfare to Kony 2012 as only she can".

"Der er ingen tvivl om, at M. I. A. vil sætte sit publikum på prøve og ikke ligger under for nogen faste skabeloner. Det ene øjeblik bliver man strøget med hårene for dernæst at blive ført til pinebænken. Som på »Come Walk With Me«, der indledningsvist nærmest lyder som retro 60er-pop for så at ende i et sandt bombardement fra maskinparken".

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"Hendes insisterende rap og knopskydende lyd af alverdens klubmusik, fra Mumbai til Baltimore, er medrivende. Tilmed er der tydeligere poplinjer og flere solide hooks i det globale hurlumhejhus, der faktisk gør det til et stærkere og mere appellerende album".

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"M. I. A.vil altid være bedst, når hun overgiver sig til den iørefaldende pop. Det gør hun gavmildt og på forskellig vis på "Come Walk With Me", "Attention", "Double Bubble Trouble" og "Bad Girls" samt "Exodus" og "Sexodus". De to sidste sange får en poetisk ro takket være stillelegskollaboratøren The Weeknd".

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