MIA fans rejoice! In a recent interview with NME, the incomparable Ms. Maya Arulpragasam announced that her as-yet untitled new record is now finished and awaiting release. The English-born Sri Lankan renaissance woman, who dabbles in fashion design and visual art when she isn't busy crafting bangers, says that the new album represents her attempt to create music that reaches beyond the realm of at-the-moment trendiness, and that has a lasting power with listeners. Read on to see what she had to say!

"I wanted to make something that you could play that isn’t like trendy just for three months, or the length of a DJ’s attention span," says MIA of the new album. Previous reports had compared the new long player's sound to a marriage of Gucci Mane and Animal Collective. "It’s my third album and I have to kind of confront whether I am a musician or not." Those of us tiring of Lady Gaga's recent domination over the world of female pop vocalists will hopefully find a serious contender in MIA's latest offering, which features long time co-conspirators Switch and Diplo as well as contributions from DJ Blaqstarr.

The first single off MIA's new album reportedly draws inspiration from a three hour phone call the socially-conscious rapper experienced with Verizon Internet Tech Support. Entitled "Down Like Your Internet Connection," the track is arguably lighter fare compared with the radical and politically-driven narratives she is known for. Apparently she even got the Filipino Verizon workers in on some vocal work for the song! We'll be looking forward to hearing that.

There is no official release date or title for the ambitious new disc, so keep it here for more news as the story unfolds! Meanwhile, enjoy this video of MIA and Blaqstarr's cover of Tom Waits' "Down In the Hole."