Daveportivo's Cultural Evaluation Facility

Now at this stage there is no news as to whether is this indeed the first single or just a promo video, but either way it's pretty exciting. So what does the winner of this blog's album of the decade have to offer? Well her work with Major Lazer suggested that motherhood would take centre stage and be expressed through M.I.A's usual worldly political rhymes. This first potential taste of her new album however is more opaque, it's spacious open and surprisingly trippy. Lyrically it's light, open and expansive. M.I.A positions herself flying around exploring her own thoughts with a sweet sharp cry that's balanced between bitter and dreamy. She'd rather fly and around in space, cut herself off, be with whom she loves than talk about what's on the news. It immediately recalls the lyrical approach of Lennon and Harrison before exploding into a blaring menical laughter, and later and almost military march. Overall it's a hard track to gauge, it certainly doesn't feel like a single, but it does encourage you to open you're mind somwhere between the crunching blaring effects, the birdy tweets and the siren like holla of M.I.A, yet it's also harsh and abrasive. It's promising, it's grows with every listen, it feels like a natural, and possible tremendous album opener. I'd love to hear this in the context of an album, but equally this might not be a single, and it really has the feel of an urgent public service announcement. There's Space For Ol' Dat I See sounds vital and I can't help but adore the sentiment that "Gravity is my enemy", M.I.A has rarely sounded this beautiful, even if she's singing from the heart of the electro swamp. I'm already pumped for the forth coming album.

UPDATED: It has since come out that this track is officially titled Space Odyssey and is in reaction to her ongoing feud with the New York times and it's portray of Sri Lanka as a haven. I'm not going to get into Sri Lanka politics as it's no my area of expertise (I'm a terrorism, civil liberties, US foriegn policy, India, UK, Ivory Coast expert, Iraq expert) but it does give the track grave new meaning. It still works on the level I described previously, a perfect Harrison-eske open your mind jam, but now it has dark connotations with that release being death, and the brilliant line "Gravity is my enemy" serving as a clear reference to the hangman's noose. The freedom and carefree attitude would just death being an escape from life, and the more abrasive sections of the track provide a stark contrast, life and death, consciousness and unconsciousness. Now does any of this effect the songs brilliance? Of course not, it works on both levels simultaneously, it only serves to add depth to an already outstanding track.