FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Music

Watch M.I.A's Explosive Video for the First Single of Her Last Album

"Go Off" featuring Skrillex and Blaqstarr is one of M.I.A.'s more upbeat tracks, but she still finds space to plug environmental issues.
GIF and screencap via

The track is a banger, but the video is literal dynamite for M.I.A.'s latest single, "Go Off," a self-directed montage of explosions rupturing the earth in what appears to be a massive strip mine. Her collaboration with Skrillex and Blaqstarr is decidedly more upbeat than her refugee-centered "Border" videos, but she still slips an environmental message into a film that's as satisfying to watch as it is horrifying to think about. Cinematically captured via drone, the explosions are gorgeous but they're still a reminder that strip mines are objectively terrible.

Advertisement

This is M.I.A.'s fifth and reportedly final studio album, which will be called A.I.M.  On BBC 1 Radio last night, she told host Annie Mac, “It’s my last record so I wanted it to be happy. There’s no complains on it. [It’s] another side to me completely. I don’t know if people know [about] that.” To clarify, she will still make music, she simply imagines leaving the album format behind. That's fine by us, if it frees her up to record, shoot, and direct more amazing audiovisuals like "Go Off," which you can watch and hear below.

Follow news about A.I.M. on M.I.A.'s website.

Related:

New M.I.A. Tracks Debut Swordfighting Indian Girls and African Street Dancers

36,000 Kung Fu Kids Star in M.I.A. and GENER8ION's Video

How Artists Are Addressing the Syrian Refugee Crisis