M.I.A. Releases 'Matahdatah Scroll 01 Broader Than a Border' on Apple Music

Following a bevy of teasers, M.I.A.’s latest project debuted earlier today on Apple’s streaming service. Entitled Matahdatah Scroll 01 Broader Than a Border, the piece includes the Matangi cut “Warriors” and new track “Swords” and sees the two songs accompanying a short film and dancing men and women in both India and West Africa. Billed as the “first in a series of truly global and characteristically DIY M.I.A. releases over the coming months,” Matahdatah Scroll 01 gives fans a good idea of what can be expected from the future releases: collections of M.I.A. tracks along videos directed and edited by the artist herself. Altogether, the individual projects will form M.I.A.’s forthcoming album/film about borders, Matahdatah. Said the artist of the project:

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. There’s ten 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.

Matahdatah Scroll 01 is available now via Apple Music.