Listen: M.I.A. – “Go Off”

M.I.A. debuted a new single from her freshly announced upcoming album, AIM. The track “Go Off” features a simple music video – without any appearance by M.I.A. herself. “Go Off”, produced by Blaqstarr and Skrillex, feels more like an album track than a single leading up to AIM. Hype tracks like “Borders” and “Ola” were fresher and more passionate; M.I.A.’s lyrical flow is as tight as always, but her words are hampered by an excessive autotune and monotony that dates the track. It’s a rare clunker from M.I.A. that feels like a rushed effort to generate some buzz before AIM drops in September.

M.I.A.’s original plans for her new album, to be called MATAHDATAH, were scrapped recently as she announced plans to drop AIM in September with “Go Off” being the first single. M.I.A. has had a longstanding and seemingly tense relationship with her label, Interscope Records, and it appears that the label’s influence on what M.I.A releases may have won out with “Go Off”; this isn’t the fresh and inspiring M.I.A. on Matangi. While “Go Off” may still be more innovative than other artists’ recent releases, by M.I.A.’s standards, it’s a bland and uninspiring track that is hopefully not indicative of the rest of AIM.