M.I.A. announces new record A.I.M., first single "Go Off" arriving this week

14 July 2016, 12:23 | Written by Laurence Day

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(M.I.A.)

M.I.A. has confirmed her new record A.I.M., and announced new single "Go Off".

In an open letter on her website, S. Varatharajah writes about refugees and their treatment:

"Survivors of war, conflict and genocide live on as IDPs and refugees, dispersed across their homelands and the globe. They embody the violence that has displaced them into the unknown, into uncertainty and into camps and council estates. Survivors crossed countless continents, countries and borders, leaving behind their homes, lives and dead: only to be rendered invisible, silent and forgotten in exile; only to be told that their bodies might have travelled but their stories have not. Their narratives are construed as exchangeable, mutable and nuisance while their bodies are considered collateral damage. Survivors are treated as a surplus people whose very presence destabilises the status quo, whose voices unsettle the known."

The album news comes after a prolonged dispute with her label, and numerous threats to leak it on M.I.A.'s part. It was supposed to be out in July, but things have changed somewhere down the line.

A.I.M. is due out 9 September, and will follow 2013's Matangi. Apparently it has 12 tracks, including "MIA OLA".

"Go Off" - the first single - is being released/revealed tomorrow, 15 July. M.I.A. posted the lyrics for the track yesterday, tagging Blaqstarr and Skrillex on Facebook... collaborators?