borders

M.I.A. Drops Surprise New Track “Borders”

Any day where M.I.A. releases new music is a good day. And today is a good day. The politically driven rapper has just dropped the second taste off upcoming release Matahdatah with track Borders. While there is still no official release date for the album, the track follows on from Broader Than A Border, a video piece encompassing previous release Warriors and new track Swords, which assaulted our senses back in July.

The artist took to her Instagram earlier today with a cryptic shot of some album artwork accompanied by the words “TBA”. The track appeared online soon after and promised to be the Friday jam for anyone with good sense.

The lyrics follow in signature M.I.A. fashion and give room for reflection on the current political climate. Above soaring synths and a toe tapping beat she poses repeated questions “Borders? What’s up with that? Politics? What’s up with that? Police shots? What’s up with that? Identities? What’s up with that?” It’s not only an absolute banger, but a great little piece of social commentary, and we have come to expect no less from the artist.

When Broader Than A Border was released the press release made mention of a series of video compositions that would form a larger audio visual album under the name Matahdatah. If the promise is to be lived up to, a video for Borders should be following along very shortly:

“Matahdatah Scroll 01 ‘Broader Than A Border’” is the first in a series of truly global and characteristically DIY M.I.A. releases over the coming months. Each bundle will feature a collection of new M.I.A. songs, each accompanied by videos directed and edited by M.I.A. herself with each video filmed in a different country. The individual sections will ultimately come together to form Matahdatah — a full-length album and film experience about borders.”

To tide you over in the meantime, check out the stellar clip from earlier this year recorded in West Africa and India, and also check out our reflection on the pivotal album Kala released back in 2007.