CD choice: Rock/Pop

M.I.A.; Kala; XL; *****

Isn't this what music was supposed to sound like in 2007? But now more than ever, rock'n'roll seems to have become fossilised, an arena dominated by retro throwbacks of every stripe still adhering

to a strict handbook of how things were once done. From caterwauling balladeers to bands rewriting Beatles and Stones songbooks, rock and pop has largely abandoned the idea of pushing things forward in favour of going back in time for the future.

Of course, Maya Arulpragasam could never be accused of following such old-hat guidelines. Arular, her 2005 debut, was alone in blending electro, pop, baile funk, hip-hop and a mighty dollop of attitude into something new.

If Arular was about setting out her stall as a Sri Lankan refugee shored up in London, then Kala is a breathtaking, audacious global tour de force, recorded in India, Trinidad, Africa, Australia, the US and Britain, and taking cues from each pit stop as it goes.

Such world travelling doesn't make it simply a series of exotic postcards. M.I.A. and collaborator Switch (the London hip-hop and house producer) may borrow notions from each location, but these are to colour rather than dominate the tracks. You get Bollywood swirls on Jimmy, bursts of gunfire followed by ringing cash registers on Paper Plane, and odd samples here and there (Jonathan Richman on Bamboo Bangerand both Pixies and New Order on $20).

M.I.A. may claim that Kala is less political than her strident debut. But her focus on the tribulations of hustling migrants and refugees scores points nonetheless. Put this reportage alongside the brash, bright and noisy-as-hell sound and M.I.A. has a magnificent, buckwild riot of an album on her hands. www.miauk.com

JIM CARROLL

Download tracks: Paper Planes, Bamboo Banger, $20