M.I.A. has not come through for fans much over the last several months. She was expected to have a new album out months and months ago, and now it’s December 5 and fans haven’t heard hide nor hair about a release date, much less a title. With “sometime in 2012” looking far less likely at this juncture, some fans complained to the singer via Twitter and, in response, M.I. A. has released “AtTENTion”, a song that begins unintelligibly and barely progresses from there.
M.I.A. always been a bit of a weird player in the pop market, but “AtTENTion” is a track that actually attempts to rhyme all of its lyrics with the word “tent.” Here’s a sample of what the lyrics roll with, courtesy of Youtube.
“Back it up, yeah I'm very blatant Don't try to copy this cause I patent Runnin on the streets causing tentsions”
There’s a weird ghostly chorus that pops up every now and again and almost holds a promise of success, but then the song returns to its tightly structured lyrics and off-rhythms, and listeners might find themselves lost, once again. If you disagree, Slate has a much kinder take on the track.
I don’t think anyone expects an album full of club-pounding tracks that are easy to sway into the rhythm of from M.I.A. She’s always been a bit abrupt, but the track the singer has released to ‘appease’ fans sounds more like her dicking around than actually accomplishing something positive. It’s great to see an artist going out on a limb and trying something, but that something doesn’t always work, and I certainly hope we won’t get a full album of it.
