The Deal: Sri Lankan Maya Arulpragasam releases sophomore effort.
The Good: The latest album from the Britain-based singer is gathering heaps of praise from the masses. With electronic and actual drums used, they’re a focal point of the album. It also gets points for originality with Bollywood-type rhythms and riffs, even a didgeridoo, finding their way into the songs.
The Bad: I’m not a big fan of dance music and this sounds just as repetitive lyrically as others. It’s got a unique sound to it, though often times I thought my CD was skipping. Aside from being repetitive, the lyrics do get political, though they aren’t from a speech-writer. It’s big on dance, low on substance. I haven’t quite figured out why this is the four-star album others claim it is. She tries to do more singing than rapping — “The Turn” — but she’s better off sticking to the hip-hop side of things.
The Verdict: Dance music from a different angle — drum heavy with a British accent. It’ll be good in a club, but not in my car.
This article appears in Sep 5-11, 2007.
