M.I.A. – Maya
M.I.A. is bigger than ever, but unfortunately, her third album is also her first less-than-stellar effort. The hypercolour world-party feel of previous efforts is replaced with something altogether darker — no bad thing in itself, but when she flits between railing about supposed conspiracies (“Google’s connected to the government”) and making dead-eyed gangsta boasts (“You know who I am, I run this fucking club”), it makes for somewhat dispiriting listening. The sound of an artist collapsing under the weight of her own hype.
