Santigold first burst into the scene with her brilliant 2008 genre-bending debut Santogold (pre-name change, of course), featuring killer cuts like “L.E.S. Artistes” and “Lights Out” that quickly won her comparisons to acts ranging from M.I.A. to The Gossip.

While she’s busied herself in between 2008 and now–including collaborating with N.A.S.A. and Basement Jaxx and penning “Monday Morning” and “Bobblehead” for Queen Legendtina‘s Bionic–fans have remained hungry for her long delayed, highly anticipated follow-up.

In a new interview this month with V Magazine, the Philly-bred musician revealed new details about her upcoming sophomore attempt now due out in 2012, called Master of My Make-Believe, which was been recorded with Greg Kurstin, Switch, TV On The Radio‘s Dive Sitek and Nick Zanner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Two choice quotes from the article:

How do you go about songwriting?

I write to the music. The lyrics came slowly on this record.

Why do you think that was?

It was about learning to trust myself. I also had expectations. Never have those! Everyone I worked with before was in a different headspace. I had to get past that. That’s why I started writing with Nick, and it started being cool and fun.

So was that the turning point?

That was when it was like, I just want to work with who I want. We recorded in Jamaica for a little while and finally some lyrics started to come to me. I think that time really colored the record.

No one wants to be real anymore. Wikipedia is always wrong. No one fact checks and it’s not even a priority. Reality TV is more popular than ever, and it’s the fakest thing ever. Where is there place for truth in all of that? My record is called Master of My Make-Believe because I want it to be about creating your own reality. I have a song called “The Keepers”: “we’re the keepers, while we sleep in America our house is burning down.” It’s about how if we accept this then that’s what it is. We’ve got to fix it.

Is that, in your opinion, the overall feeling of the record?

I connect with music that makes me feel alive, or a sense of possibility. Music is powerful. If I go out and I’m watching a show and it’s really good, all I want to do is go home and work on music. It’s a backhanded motivation when something is really good. I want my music to be that for people. I want it to be an initiator of something compelling, to set something in motion.

Make sure to check out the full article at V.

Kurstin, Switch and some Yeah Yeah Yeahs flavor to boot? Yes, yes and yes, PLEASE!

Frankly, it’s about time. While Santogold still sounds more fresh and innovative than most of the albums released in 2011, we’re in desperate need for Santi to switch up the game once again. For now, let’s go out with one of my favorite cuts off of her debut: “Shove It.”

We think you’re a joke, shove your hope where it don’t shine! (Not you, Santi!)

Master of My Make-Believe will be released in 2012. (iTunes)

As originally reported by The Prophet, ex-Pussycat Dolls member Kimberly Wyatt is making her first moves as a solo artist–in the form of a duo.

Her Majesty & The Wolves is the singer’s side-project with producer Spencer Nezey. Their music together is said to be inspired by “electro and dance.” Very good influences, indeed.

On August 27, Her Majesty & The Wolves will unleash their first track, “Glaciers,” as a free download on their official website. A video for the track is also forthcoming.

For now, you can download a pretty schweet mixtape on the site, which includes songs from artists including Ladyhawke, Marina & The Diamonds, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Above is our first taste of “Glaciers,” which certainly contains shades of all of the above acts. Very La Rouxvian as well, no?

If this is really the musical direction she’s heading toward, I expect some major, major surprises.

Say hello to my latest obsession.

This is I Blame Coco, otherwise known as Coco Sumner (plus a band), otherwise known as the daughter of Sting and Trudie Styler.

The burgeoning talent, just 19 years old at the moment, has been diligently plucking away at her debut record, The Constant, for the past five years now. Ironically though, there’s hardly anything constant about it, given that she apparently re-wrote the entire record in the fall of 2009.

The record was produced with the help of Klas Ã…hlund, the genius Swedish powerhouse behind Robyn‘s sublime self-titled 2005 record, as well as dozens of pop productions including Britney‘s “Piece of Me” and several tracks off of the under-appreciated 2008 Sugababes album, Catfights & Spotlights.

Sumner’s second single, “Self Machine,” is the next tidbit to be released from her debut.

The blaring, ’80′s-inspired beats of the song sparkle with shades of Ã…hlund’s pop sensibility, yet Sumner’s deeper voice suggests something far darker: “I saw the mirror staring back at me, and it told me I’m a self machine,” Sumner croons, sounding appropriately lonely as she tackles the personal void missing in today’s digital age.

In short: Think a less obnoxious La Roux, mixed with The Killers and a touch of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs‘ new electronic sound, a la “Zero.” The result is nothing short of alt-disco brilliance.

The video for the song was just recently released, which you can now watch above. It’s very high fashion (though I may just be biased by Coco and her gorgeous, moody model friends), a bit magical (floating in an abandoned pool!), and quite beautifully shot all around.

If the two singles hadn’t already won me over, her spot-on thoughts on Robyn (who happens to be featured on Coco’s debut single, “Caesar”) certainly cemented the deal.

From her biography:

She is a pop star worth looking up to.’ She says it as if there aren’t many. ‘She has control over every aspect of her music, from the sound to the presentation to the artwork. It is all directly coming from her. And,’ she notes, ‘she is a bit mental.’

I predict very good things, indeed.

“Self Machine” will be released on July 12. To learn more, check out I Blame Coco’s official website here.

With My Best Friend is You, it seems Kate Nash has decided to shy far, far away from the sweetly sung, Lily Allen-tinged ditties on her debut. Well actually, there’s nothing too shy about it.

The 22-year-old’s effort, released on April 19, finds the English songstress dabbling in the territory of defiant riot grrrl rawrrr, complete with crashing drums, jagged guitar squeals, and far more experimental, layered song construction.

Take for instance “I Just Love You More,” a slow burning, building repetition of the same line: “I just love you more than…anything.” As the cymbals crash and dive deeper with each repetition, the singer slowly spirals into jittering cries and guttural yelps recalling the Yeah Yeah Yeahs‘ Karen O until completely breaking down, unleashing wild cries of “Bah, bah, bah, bah, dah, dah, bah, bah!” It’s a briefly amazing moment–and more importantly, an introduction to entirely new side of Nash we’ve never heard before.

That’s not to say that there isn’t any trace of Nash’s initial sound that brought her initial acclaim back with 2007′s Made of Bricks. With songs like the catchy first track “Paris” and the album’s lead single “Do Wah Doo,” Nash’s album blazes with the sunny piano melodies, hand claps, and blaring horns that colored her first album.

Later on with “I Hate Seagulls,” Nash closes her album in the same way she did her debut: a simple, melodious tune–occasionally silly and entirely heartfelt–which finds the singer cooing softly about all the things she hates (among them, scabs and “rude, ignorant bastards”), but ultimately returning to the one thing she does like: “You’re so nice, and I’m in love with you.”

For the most part, however, Nash isn’t so sentimental on My Best Friend is You. In fact, she’s as scathingly to-the-point and jealous as ever: “Kiss that girl and I will shrink up and I will die / And I will think of a thousand ways that I can hurt you, and you will never touch my hand,” she promises in the misleadingly sweet, twinkling chorus of “Kiss That Grrrl.”

While the singer’s musical references may have matured in the past three years from Lily Allen to Bikini Kill, her lyrics still paint her as a young spirit–at times immature and often emotional–though now with more anger and angst than ever before. Give “Mansion Song” thirty seconds and see if your eyes don’t nearly pop out of her sockets as Nash recites a caustic, damning monologue about women who allow themselves to be used. It’s a must listen, but be warned–she’s pissed.

Then there’s “Don’t You Want To Share The Guilt,” which begins simply enough with a lonely guitar strum and some twinkling bells; the tempo building slowly as Nash narrates a sad, broken love story. “I don’t know how more people don’t have mental health problems / Thinking is one of the most stressful things I’ve ever come across…” she suddenly begins to utter above the swinging beat, diving deeper and deeper into a rapid-fire monologue about life. And dictionaries. And India and pyramids and swimming and shouting. It’s dizzying, but brilliant at the same time–a perfect representation of the very manic thoughts Nash claims she cannot control.

Nash’s newest release is for fans of riot grrrl sound and ’60′s girl group pop (and quite the treat for fans of both). While I can’t guarantee that fans of her first record will take to My Best Friend is You quite as kindly, there’s just enough of a hint of sugary sweet sprinkled in between the raging rawrrr of the album to please listeners of all types.

No more Miss Pumpkin Soup!

It sounds as though Kate Nash has let loose from her foundations to find herself an entirely new sound for her upcoming record.

“I Just Love You More” is a brand new track from the UK singer, which offers a sharp detour away from the Lily Allen-esque array of quirky pop singer/songwriting and into the rocky, rawrrring terrain of something off a Yeah Yeah Yeahs record…or even Bikini Kill.

The crashing drums, the carnal screams…why, it just makes me love her more than ever!

To hear Nash’s new sound, click here for a free download of the track. Hurry, though–it’s only available until Monday.

Nash’s sophomore effort will be released on April 16.

Photo courtesy of The Grammys.

There are 109 categories of nomination for a Grammy this year. I gave them all a brief looking-over, and these are the few that sparked my interest and are therefore most relevant to MuuMuse:

• BRITNEY SPEARS GETS A NOMINATION FOR DANCE RECORD OF THE YEAR WITH “WOMANIZER”! Congrats, B! But there’s a catch–she’s battling MADONNA with “Celebration”! AND THEN IT GETS WORSE AGAIN…Lady Gaga‘s “Poker Face” and David Guetta‘s When Love Takes Over” featuring Kelly Rowland! Eep.

• Speaking of, Lady Gaga’s pulled in SIX nominations, including Record of the Year (“Poker Face”) and Album of the Year (The Fame). While Beyonce proves a worthy opponent with a score of nominations in all the same categories, it’s dark horse Taylor Swift that may pull away from the two pop titans after a wave of post-Kanye guilt washes over the Grammy committee. Muusers, pray for Godga and Beysus to shine through!

• Imogen Heap scores two nominations for Best Pop Instrumental Record (“The Fire”) and quite ironically, Best Engineered Album (despite Ellipse being one of the worst mastering jobs of 2009).

• Kathy Griffin gets another go for her run at winning a Grammy! Suckin’ It for the Holidays has scored a nomination for Best Comedy Album. Competition’s tight, though: She’s up against Stephen Colbert, Patton Oswalt and George Lopez.

• The Yeah Yeah Yeahs have been nominated for Best Alternative Album, though they face an equally up-hill battle: Depeche Mode, David Byrne & Brian Eno, Pheonix and Death Cab for Cutie meet them to the challenge.

• Liza Minnelli‘s Liza’s At The Palace got a nod for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album! Bitches ain’t got shit on Liza with a Z.

• Kelly Clarkson and Pink are due to duel it out for Best Pop Vocal Album.

• Pet Shop Boys get a Best Electronic Album nomination with Yes! Yes! But they’re facing Lady Gaga! No!

Let’s face it, though: This is the Grammy Awards, an honor that hasn’t been relevant since The Bodyguard. In the end, all of the awards will probably end up going to the fucking Black Eyed Peas.

In an attempt to distract myself from the pure vitriol that would otherwise be spilling out across this blog left and right as a result of California’s ridiculous decision to uphold Proposition 8, I’ll instead happily present the latest video from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs for “Heads Will Roll.”

GORGEOUS video, gorgeous visuals…and a nice rally chant to boot, isnt it?

Let the glitter fly, bitches!

Make sure to check and see if the YYY’s are touring near you this summer.

Want to win a poster AND a copy of It’s Blitz, the new album from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs? Send an e-mail to YYY@muumuse.com by TOMORROW, May 13, @ 12 PM EST to win! A winner will be chosen at random and notified immediately. USA applicants only. (Sorry!)

In honor of Lady O and the boys’ latest gallavant ’round the nation, I thought to myself: What better way to celebrate their tour then by giving their music away for free to strangers?!

So while you’re waiting to see them, check out their performance of “Heads Will Roll” on Later with Jools Holland.

Fancy footwork!

Click “Read More…” to see the tour dates, here to order tickets, and below to hear more from the YYYs!


TOUR DATES

5/23 Quincy, WA – Sasquatch Festival
5/26 Chicago, IL – Riviera Theatre On Sale 5/2, 10am
5/27 Detroit, MI – Clutch Cargos On Sale 4/29,10am
5/28 Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall On Sale 5/2, 10am
5/30 Minneapolis, MN – First Ave On Sale 5/2, 10am
5/31 Milwaukee, WI – Eagles Club On Sale 5/2, 10am
6/2 St. Louis, MO – The Pageant On Sale 5/1, 5pm
6/3 Kansas City, MO – The Beaumont On Sale 5/9, 10am
6/6 Mountain View, CA – Live 105 BFD
6/12 Manchester, TN – Bonnaroo
7/31 Jersey City, NJ – All Points West