Ah, the dreaded sophomore slump of the second album.  M.I.A.’s Arular was just too fresh, too innovative as a starting point; the inevitable follow-up had to pale in comparison, right?  Wrong!  While it is rare for an artist to blow a ground-breaking debut out of the water with their second release, M.I.A. makes it look easy on Kala.  Kala is one of those records that does what it says on the tin—the cover is brash and colorful, and so is the music.  Kala keeps the harsh digital hip-hop edge of Arular, but adds in enough world music influences to soften the blunt force trauma and keep well ahead of the pack.  Didgeridoo, a crew of aboriginal school-kid rappers, and a few choice words borrowed from The Pixies are just a few of the elements that get fused to irresistible beats in M.I.A.’s quest for the perfect sonic fusion.  The danceable insanity that is Kala is peppered with lyrics rife with political and social allusions—it’s like The Clash has been reborn in the third world with a real fire in the belly.  Perhaps a result of being recorded in numerous locations, the album sounds like a gigantic, inspired cultural mash-up…and the mash-up has never sounded so good.  The best thing I can say about Kala is that it sounds like no other record I’ve ever heard.

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