When Maya Arulpragasm took off quite literally on the back of the single Paper Planes, a full year after the release of sophomore effort Kala, she went from cult icon to A-list superstar practically overnight. In the weeks building up to the highly anticipated release of /\/\ /\ Y /\, the press was rife with stories of her exchanges and fallings out with reporters, other artists, and anyone else who dared step on her shoes (she rightly warns us on Lovealot that "I fight the ones who fight me"). The big question with /\/\ /\ Y /\ though, was whether she would fully embrace her pop-stardom or continue to plot her own course entirely.Well it seems M.I.A. remained caught in two minds throughout the recording process. It's a hotchpotch of genres and sounds that never really fully gels. The tribal beats and worldly stylings of Kala are largely absent, replaced by a more club-orientated sound featuring an array of klaxons, buzzsaws and aircraft noises. That the resulting sound is so jarring is nothing new for M.I.A., but never before has her music sounded so convoluted. The album's first half particularly suffers under the strain; Lovealot is directionless and crying out for a tune, whilst Teqkilla runs out of ideas half-way into its 6-minute running time. Opening passage The Message is government conspiracy clap-trap with all the depth of a child's paddling pool. And whilst M.I.A. has swiftly dismissed any Lady Gaga comparisons, XXXO sounds like none other than the audaciously-dressed one herself (its chorus of "You want me be to somebody who I'm really not" could be seen as ironic or self-aware, depending on your point of view).
When M.I.A. does lean towards her poppier tendancies, as on much of the album's second half, things improve significantly. It Takes A Muscle is perhaps the album's greatest success with its slinky ska groove, and It Iz What It Iz is allowed to breathe thanks to a relatively clutter-free arrangement . Born Free and Meds And Feds borrow big riffs (from Suicide and Sleigh Bells respectively) to serve up the two most immediate floor-fillers here and make for an effective one-two combo.
What we have with /\/\ /\ Y /\ then is a mess, but at least it's an enthralling mess. With repeated listens, the seemingly uncompromising first-half does become more palatable, and whilst it's no Kala or Arular, it's far from the disaster certain sources would have you believe. /\/\ /\ Y /\ will divide opinion over M.I.A more than ever before, but for an artist who thrives on controversy, is unlikely to do any long-term damage.
68/100
