Santigold - Master of my Make-Believe

With Switch at the helm you're almost guaranteed to have produced a record that'll please me. With Diplo, too, you're going to secure a couple of listens. Q-Tip, Greg Kurstin and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs... now you're just trying to seduce me. I should warn you that I've already been an everlasting fan of Santigold's ever since 'the man' (or rather, a Baltimore jewellery company) forced her to change her name, so perhaps a reasonable amount of gushing might make itself apparent in this article. The 35 year-old Santi White from Philadelphia might well have burst into my subconscious but as of right now has gathered very little in the way of critical or commercial accolades. The song L.E.S. Artistes in particular may have ended up highly on a couple of end-of-year lists among the likes of Pitchfork and NME, but to date Santigold's only received an NME USA award (which I wasn't even aware was a 'thing') and an ASCAP Pop Music Award (me neither).

Much more impressive, however, is her list of collaborations. Major Lazer, Basement Jaxx, Kanye West, Drake, Mark Ronson, N.E.R.D., Beastie Boys, David Byrne, Fatboy Slim, Jay-Z, The Lonely Island and Steve Aoki - the list doesn't even end there. So there must be something about White, but is it just a lot of high-up friends or genuine allure?

 

Her sophomore album opens with 2011's taster, 'Go!', featuring Karen O. With a storming drumbeat and quickfire vocals, Santigold commands attention with eyecatching lines such as "people want my power" and "storm my Winter Palace" but more than anything it's a real tribal force to be reckoned with. 'Disparate Youth' then exchanges energy for swagger, with jerky riffs and a gorgeously summery synth - all the while singing of "a life worth fighting for". Lord of the alt-pop world Greg Kurstin then lends his masterful hand to 'God from the Machine', an initially understated piece dominated by heavy marching drums, giving off a definite Florence + the Machine vibe (back when she was good, though). Vowing that "you can make it alone", it's certainly of the same introspective inclination as Ms. Welch, and White's echoing cries only improve the similarities.

Throughout her career the comparisons to M.I.A. have plagued White, which isn't exactly a bad thing. The likeness is most obvious on 'Fame', thriving off of a Vicki Leekx inspired industrial sample and unpredictable vocal lilts. On 'Freak Like Me', too, the music is heavily sample-based, using repetitive vocal patterns and rapid (often indecipherable) lines over a minimalist beat. For me, though, it just lacks anything original or captivating. Thus she returns to her more conventional sound on 'This Isn't Our Parade', a melancholy track with the album's richest instrumental pieces. 'The Riot's Gone', too, sounds beautiful in its tones and pitch - think third album era Yeah Yeah Yeahs - which will no doubt disappoint many in its safety, and maybe fail to stand out, but is still pretty lovely. Slightly more unforgiveable though is the total mediocrity of 'Pirate in the Water', a song worked on by both halves of Major Lazer. Sounding a world away from their excellent former collaboration Hold the Line, it just bobs in the water with a slight reggae vibe. 

She does at times manage to mash interesting sounds, though. 'The Keepers' introduces the dark alt-pop (sounding a lot like the verses to Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill) to a synthesized, gritty present. Singing "our house is burning down" almost with triumph it's a novel track. One of the more explosive tracks is 'Look at these Hoes', a Boys Noize production that combines club cheering with effectively a long hip-hop brag. "These bitches ain't fucking with me, killa!" is the show-stealer, and towards the end there's an air of the Black Eyed Peas' Boom Boom Pow about the background. Her celebrity-tearing closer 'Big Mouth' then confirms White's attention to the world around her with vaguely-cloaked digs at Lady GaGa, Ke$ha and Katy Perry (particularly in its cartoonish music video), crowning herself and a stomping chorus. 

 

There were fears upon first listen that the edge had gone. Particularly when mainstream pop is now clambering to embrace the sounds that made 2008's debut stand out - Beyonce's got 'Run the World (Girls)', Christina Aguilera went all 'Bobblehead' and even Britney's tried a bit of dubstep - there was a concern that Santigold might fade into the background. To an extent those fears aren't totally dismissed: a lot of MomMB is incredibly safe-sounding pop, but the quality of the songwriting and the album's bookend tracks are enough to redeem that. There's still fire in Santigold, and she's still far more interesting than Katy Perry.

Rating: 7.5/10

Highlights: Disparate Youth, Go!, Big Mouth, Look at these Hoes, This Isn't Our Parade

Avoid: Pirate in the Water, Freak Like Me

Artwork Watch: Is it just me or does Santidude look a lot like Aziz Ansari?