Nobody gets blood boiling, dance floors destroyed by military boot stomps and high heels stabs simultaneously and conspiracies rolling quite like மாதங்கி 'மாயா' அருள்பிரகாசம். Or M.I.A. as she's slightly more commonly known... Following the hostile media approach to her and Romain Gavras' sadistically tinged take on American abrasiveness and brutally invasive mindlessness in which a horde of ginger-haired youths are savagely massacred in a dusty American expanse of nothingness, Xxxo sees Maya Arulpragasam returning to slightly more sheltered territory. Cue the guerrilla artwork inspired by Gameboys and Eastern eatery decor in equal measure, vitriolic synth slabs and lyrical incoherence jabbing away at the overt commercialism of mainstream society ("Cos you're tweeting me like Tweety Bird, On your iPhone") that we've come to virtually venerate ever since Arular's Bhangra blips tapped on our shoulders and slapped us out of post-Libertines dementia five years ago. Xxxo isn't quite as lovely-dovey as its technologically contemporary title may suggest, as conniving guitars slither, arpeggiators flurry unrestrainedly and synth shimmers sonically reminiscent of Chromeo swirl about M.I.A.'s relentless opposition to uniformity spat unapologetically all over your iTunes, whether you like it or not.
Both Born Free and Xxxo are to be included on M.I.A.'s 3rd record proper, entitled somewhat cryptically, /\/\/\Y/\.
