For the first time in 6 years, the world’s original “Bad Girl” M.I.A has dropped the lead single for her newest album, entitled MATA. Her new single “The One” ushers in a new era in the artist’s fascinating story, created amid a global pandemic and paired with the narrative of a new spiritual outlook. The future looks bright when M.I.A is back where she belongs.

Produced by Rex Kudo and T-Minus, the beat wouldn’t be an M.I.A song without feeling colossal. Simplicity and pure volume have been a tried and tested formula for M.I.A, but we now see perhaps a more introspective lyrical approach, giving insight into her fractured state of mind. Singing; “When you trying to find the one, why do you need reminding, no matter how you look at it, it’s me you keep finding”. However, her vocal delivery stays bracingly confident and her West London accent remains proudly unchanged. Have a listen to “The One” down below:

The new single is pulled from her upcoming album MATA which as of yet, has no official release date to speak of. Partnered with the legendary Island Records, M.I.A discussed what we may discover within the forthcoming album; “I think there’s a bit of a battle on the record. 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. Also the genre of music that—genres I should say—is all very much like egocentric. It’s not like I’m an artist that came from gospel or something. For me, it was, like, to have that journey, and also, like, it was a significant time to discuss like Islamophobia… talking about wars in the Middle East and things like that.”

She went on to add; “My head has been in a totally different place…. Being a Tamil and being a Hindu, I was very comfortable that I’d arrived finding myself. Which is, I think, going to be weird for America to process. But I had a vision and I saw the vision of Jesus Christ. It’s very, creatively, it’s a very crazy thing because it turned my world upside down. Because everything I thought and believed was no longer, like, the case. And I think that was maybe a sign that something major was going to happen in the world- when I had this vision, it turned my world upside down. I kind of couldn’t let go of the Tamil side. I think that’s why 50% of the record is sort of like that. Because I’m still me. Like, that’s still my language. And those are still my tools to be able to create beats like that or a sound like that, you know. But I think the message was just to get to a peaceful place.”