The Sri-Lankan-bred, English-based M.I.A has had a tough year battling with her record label over the release of her long-awaited fourth album, Matangi. But after some muscling and guerrilla tactics of her own, it seems that fans are now getting another taste from the new album, while the stalled documentary chronicling the making of the album looks to have been taken back off the shelf.

M.I.A. has posted a new track online, entitled ‘UNBREAK My Mixtape’, which features her singing breezily over a light drum break and samples forthcoming Big Day Out co-headliners Blur, specifically the dulcet tones of Damon Albarn and the cozy guitars of the crowd singalong favourite ‘Tender’.

The track’s coda also concludes with a sample of ‘I Love You More Than Words Can Say’ by banjo-playing American folk singer Karen Dalton. Together with Blur’s ‘Tender’ and M.I.A.’s own vulnerable refrain of “how can I stand by you if I can’t find my feet?”, the new song reveals a softer side to the multicultural musician.

The new track, along with the June-released single ‘Bring The Noize’, are expected to appear on the much-delayed Matangi. The follow-up to 2010’s Maya (aka /\/\ /\ Y /\ ) was originally scheduled for January 31st this year then again in April, but M.I.A.’s label – Interscope – repeatedly rejected it on the basis of it being “too positive.” 

The label has now pushed the album’s release date to 5th November after M.I.A. threatened to leak the album herself after her many frustrations with Interscope.

Her frustrations include battling Interscope over the fascinating-looking documentary about the artist and her new album, a project that saw director Steve Loveridge quit in frustration after continued interference from label heads.

The disgruntled director stormed off the project and leaked video online, featuring interview footage with producers Diplo and Switch, director Spike Jonze, Kanye West, and MIA’s own Tamil Tigers-founding father. When pulled up by label executives in some legal threats to continue the documentary, Loveridge responded: “I really couldn’t give a flying fuck… Count me out. Would rather die than work on this.”

But a recent tweet from M.I.A., who supported Loveridge’s decision, confirms that the film is back on track.

“We grindin, we still choppin” added the musician in an additional post. A good thing too, as from the evidence of the teaser trailer, the film looks to be a worthy addition to the pantheon of music documentaries.

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