M.I.A. releases new track ‘The One’, confirms album ‘MATA’ is on the way

M.I.A. has shared a brand new track, called ‘The One’. Listen to the new song below.

The English-Sri Lankan musician has also confirmed her new album, ‘MATA’ in on the way. The follow up to 2016’s ‘AIM‘ will be released via Island Records, who she’s inked a new global deal with.

A statement on the yet-to-be released album also promised live performances and festival dates around the world this summer as she gears up for the record’s release with “more details to be revealed soon.” View the list of upcoming tour dates below.

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Yesterday (May 25), M.I.A. teased the new track on her socials, writing “If you’re looking for the one… It’s coming early.”

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A post shared by M.I.A. (@miamatangi)

“I know that it was the pandemic, and kind of everything was hitting the fan, but I’d got to a place that was really happy,” she recently told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe about the new track.

“In a way, it’s kind of rebellious because everybody’s expecting me to put out that really havoc… Everyone’s expecting that, but it’s not, that’s not what it is,” M.I.A. continued.

“It’s about the battle of the ego versus you finding yourself and you finding the spiritual leader. Spirituality within, whatever form is given to you. I think that’s really interesting, when you think everything, you get challenged by the universe. And that happened to me. Really I’m just here to share that.”

She also talked to Lowe about her new album, saying “I think there’s a bit of a battle on the record. That 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.”

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M.I.A 2022 tour dates

JUNE
1 – Grona Lund – Stockholm, Sweden
2 – Heartland Fest – Funen, Denmark
10 – Primavera – Barcelona, Spain
11 – VYV Festival – Dijon, France
12 – Marsatac Festival – Marseille, France
17 – InVersion Festival – Lyon, France
18 – Freemusic Festival – Montendre, France

JULY
8 – NOS Alive – Oeiras, Portugal
9 – BBK Bilbao Live – Biscay, Spain

Last year, M.I.A. released her track ‘Babylon’ as an NFT (non-fungible token). The ‘Paper Planes’ artist had shared the single alongside her 2010 mixtape ‘Vicki Leekx’ through a Foundation NFT auction in support of Courage.org.

She also released two songs through her O H M N I site in 2020, ‘CTRL’ and ‘OHMNI 202091’. The latter marked her first track in three years, following 2017’s ‘POWA’.