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Jul 13, 2015 M.I.A. By Christopher Roberts

M.I.A. has announced that her forthcoming fifth album will be titled Matahdatah. She is releasing parts of the album separately, starting today with a video that includes the new song, “Swords,” which will be featured on the album. The full title for the video is “Matahdatah Scroll 01 ‘Broader Than a Border’” and it features both “Swords” and “Warriors,” a track from her last album, Matangi. M.I.A. self-directed the video, filming it in India and the Cote d’Ivoire.

“I directed and edited my first music video for ‘Warriors’ for my last album, Matangi, and I held it back until now, because it inspired me to make a whole series of songs and videos on the concept of borders,” M.I.A. said in a press release. “Making songs and videos at the same time out of a suitcase on location is something I did on my album Kala, but it’s video, as well as music, made by me in a very Arular way.”

M.I.A. had more to say about the video and song in the press release: “My new song ‘Swords’ was filmed in a Temple in India and we recorded the clang of the metal to make the beat at the same time as shooting these incredible girls,” she continued. “There’s 10 more of these countries coming and I haven’t chased where to go yet, so who knows where this project will take me. ‘Warriors’ was shot in Cote d’Ivoire with a guy I saw in a YouTube video doing the most incredible dancing. I tracked down that exact guy, flew out there and played him the ‘Warriors’ track. He did his thing for me. He is a spiritual warrior and communicates through dancing. It’s a lifelong commitment for him to be the designated spiritual body that channels that dance.”

M.I.A. also explained the title of the video and the album as a whole: “The concept for this LP is ‘broader than a border’ and Matahdatah is the journal of Matangi. Sometimes I move vertical and sometimes I move horizontal.”

“Matahdatah Scroll 01 ‘Broader Than a Border’” is available to purchase over at iTunes (it was premiered on Apple Music).

Matahdatah will continue to be released in bundles featuring new songs and accompanying videos directed by M.I.A., each filmed in a different country. Presumably the whole thing will be released as one album. The press release describes Matahdatah as “a full-length album and film experience about borders.”