M.I.A. shares vibrant earworm ‘Beep’
M.I.A. has shared her new single ‘Beep’, the latest preview ahead of the British artist’s forthcoming sixth studio album, Mata.
‘Beep’ is almost what it says on the tin. It’s particularly short, clocking in at exactly two minutes, and, while lightly charming and intriguing on a first listen, it’s likely to become abrasive and tedious upon repeated listens, much like a ringtone.
Last month, M.I.A. attributed the lengthy delay for her new album, Mata, which follows 2016’s AIM, in part, to waiting on guest collaborations from other artists and threatened to leak the record herself if it wasn’t released by her label soon. Mata is now scheduled for release on October 14th.
Over the dry patch since AIM, M.I.A. shared a scattering of standalone singles and featured on Travis Scott‘s ‘Franchise’ alongside Young Thug.
“I think there’s a bit of a battle on the record,” M.I.A. said when speaking to Apple Music’s Zane Lowe about Mata earlier this year. “There is a bit of a clash, but the clash is like your ego and spirituality. Those are the clashes. Because as a musician, you need some ego, otherwise, you can’t do it.”
When announcing the release of Mata back in May, M.I.A. introduced the lead single, ‘The One’, explaining how it was inspired by her experience of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I know that it was the pandemic, and kind of everything was hitting the fan, but I’d got to a place that was really happy,” she told Zane Lowe. “In a way, it’s kind of rebellious because everybody’s expecting me to put out that really havoc… Everyone’s expecting that, but it’s not, that’s not what it is,” M.I.A. continued.
“It’s about the battle of the ego versus you finding yourself and you finding the spiritual leader. Spirituality within, whatever form is given to you. I think that’s really interesting, when you think everything, you get challenged by the universe. And that happened to me. Really I’m just here to share that.”
Listen to M.I.A.’s brand new single, ‘Beep’, below.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out New Music Newsletter
All the latest New Music from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.