M.I.A. - Bird Flu

M.I.A. posted a video for her new song "Bird Flu" on her MySpace page. Anchored by a loop of an agitated chicken squawk, it's a galvanic and wildly original track. The Sri Lankan born, London raised artist has an album due out on Interscope in June, and from this it sounds like it could trump the already superb Arular, released in '05 (and whose influence has seeped into the Top 40, in the guise of Nelly Furtado and Fergie).

The song is influenced by a dance craze originated in the Ivory Coast. At a nightclub in Abidjan, DJ Lewis invented what he called the "Bird Flu" dance in order to "bring happiness to the hearts of Africans, and to chase away fear" after a strain of the virus was discovered in the country. The dance involves flopping around like a dying bird, to be less than descriptive. There are plenty of examples on YouTube if you'd like to see an example - the cutting is too quick in M.I.A.'s video to get a real sense of it.

Thanks to Sia Michel's Playlist in the New York Times for the heads up.