M.I.A's got The Right Stuff

Last year's /\/\/\Y/\ album was crushed under the weight of expectation. M.I.A. seemed to be trying to second-guess her audience, acting like a political (and sonic) provocateur because it was expected of her; making futile, brattish attempts to counter accusations of selling out by marrying a millionaire; before finally letting loose on songs like Teqkilla.

Since that troubled third album hit the streets, not to mention a barrage of critical brickbats, M.I.A's material has become infinitely more interesting. First up, she realeased the Vicki Leekx mixtape (it rhymes with Wikileaks, you see) on New Year's Day. It was a mixed bag - an hallucinogenic collage of clips, beats and song fragments - but tracks like Gen N.E.Y. and Bad Girls saw M.I.A. triumphantly reacquaint herself with melody.

Over the weekend, another new song leaked. This one's called Zig Zag and it is absolutely the sort of M.I.A. track I can get behind... Flirty, fun, playful, catty, catchy and sexy. Harking back to the 80s with a huge Roland TR-808 drum kick, it's an eccentric, cosmopolitan playground chant. Better still, it interpolates the chorus to the NKOTB's The Right Stuff.

Welcome back, pop M.I.A. We missed you.

M.I.A. - Zig Zag Co-write by AntWhiting

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