Santogold - Santogold

The opening lines of 'Creator' "Got no need for the fancy things/ All the attention that it brings/ Tell me no, I say yes, I was chosen/ And I will deliver the explosion" pretty much say it all. It's not often when so much hype is actually warranted but with Santogold, it is.

Santi White, former lead singer of the US punk/ska band Stiffed and woman behind the nickname turned band moniker Santogold, has made a debut album that is loaded with eclectic and exciting tunes that are addictive as hell. The album features appearances or production work from Chuck Treece of Bad Brains, Cliffored "Moonie" Pusey of Steel Pulse, Diplo, Freq Nasty, M.I.A, Naeem Juwan of Spank Rock, Radioclit, Sinden, Switch, Trouble Andrew, and XXXchange.

Seemingly the American answer to MIA, Santogold takes similar steps as MIA (both using similar styles and producers) but has managed to make her sounds more accessible to a wider audience. Most of the time, when this happens, the music suffers but with Santogold that is not the case.

Santi's style jumps around from the Tega and Sarah flavored sounds of 'Shove It' to the uber catchy punk/dubtastic 'Say Aha' (with a chanted chorus that gets me out of my seat every time I hear it). Then there is the lyrical spitfire filled grimey 'Creator', the Sinden sounding bleeps of 'Starstruck' and the down tempo, pop perfect female power of 'I'm A Lady'.

The genre jumping may not be for everyone but with mastery of so many styles, it pretty much guarantees that Santogold will be around for a while. Santi's debut album is yet another contender for album of the year in my book. I will be watching very closely to see what she will do next! This could very well be the year of Santogold.

8 out of 10