Super Bowl bird-flipper M.I.A.’s new album received a less-than-stellar response from her record label – for being “too positive.”
In a recent interview with Australia’s Gold Coast Bulletin (via Rolling Stone), the “Bad Girls” songstress said that “Matangi” – which was originally being eyed for a December release – will now come out in April. The delay, she says, was caused by Interscope, which allegedly expressed disappointment with the new set (M.I.A.’s fourth) after she turned it over to the label.
“I thought I’d finished it. I finished it and then I handed the record in, like a couple of months ago,” said the singer. “At the moment, I’ve been told it’s too positive. So we’re having a bit of an issue at the label. …They’re like, ‘You need to like darken it up a bit.'”
The way M.I.A. tells it, Interscope execs may well have expected a more antagonistic tone following her controversy-baiting recent antics, which among other things saw her engaging in a Twitter war with CNN correspondent Anderson Cooper.
Noted the singer: “It’s like, ‘We just built you up as the public enemy No. 1 and now you’re coming out with all this positive stuff.'”
M.I.A.’s last album, 2010’s “Maya,” debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 with sales of 28,000 copies.
Are you looking forward to “Matangi”? Let us know in the comments.