RECORD REVIEWS

M.I.A.

Album: “AIM”

Grade: B+

M.I.A., the world-beat rapper and enemy of confection pop, has never gone in only one direction. So it’s kind of weirdly fitting that on her latest album she’s joined by someone few expected — a onetime member of One Direction.

The British-born, Sri Lankan-reared Mathangi Arulpragasam, who famously flashed her middle finger during the 2012 Super Bowl halftime show, returns with “AIM,” a messy, unpredictable and always thrilling batch of songs, one that includes former boy bander Zayn Malik on a dreamy “Freedun.”

Her fifth studio album is an urgent meditation on worldwide refugees, examining borders, foreignness and freedom. It’s a welcome perspective: Who else writes about sneaking across a border while hiding in a Toyota Corolla?

Easily the best song is opening track “Borders,” a sardonic stab at Western blindness in which M.I.A. uses a Valley girl taunt as a chorus — “What’s up with that?” — as she questions our obsessions with things like “slaying it” and “being bae.”

“AIM “ leans on looped electronic samples and some wear out their welcome fast, like on “Bird Song (Blaqstarr Version)” and “Fly Pirate.” But M.I.A., who teamed up with Skrillex and Blaqstarr on many tracks, skitters from Bollywood to thumping house beats to ensure a constant swirl of propulsive music.

She twists language cleverly, sprinkling in references to “Breaking Bad,” MC Hammer and the soccer star Neymar. She even samples from herself, reusing “Galang.” As provocative as ever, she acknowledges on “Finally”: “I’m someone’s shot of whiskey, not everyone’s tea.”

Drink up.

—Mark Kennedy, Associated Press

Macy Gray

Album: “Stripped”

Grade: B+

Macy Gray reinterprets some of her hits with a jazz combo on “Stripped,” seasoned with a few new songs and Bob Marley and Metallica covers.

Gray’s patented purr-and-growl vocals thrive in the intimate setting and the well-chosen repertoire, with trumpeter Wallace Roney and bassist Daryl Johns skillfully coloring the quartet’s arrangements.

Recorded in-the-round with a single microphone and no overdubs in a deconsecrated Brooklyn church, the album launches with “Annabelle,” a bluesy new tune apt for a speakeasy. Gray really does sound at home in this setting, with engineer Nicholas Pratt achieving a sweet balance between singer and band.

Holly Cole could tackle the double bass-led take of “I Try,” Gray’s biggest hit, while Madeleine Peyroux should consider covering the passionate reggae slant of “She Ain’t Right for You.”

Gray imbues Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” with a deep melancholy that never wilts, as inventive solos from guitarist Russell Malone and, especially, Roney, provide elevation. Marley’s “Redemption Song” gets a faithful reading, Gray applying the same successful approach she uses throughout the album — honest vocals without mannerisms, just straightforward communication and all the more effective for it.

—Pablo Gorondi, Associated Press

Wilco

Album: “Schmilco”

Grade: B-

Wilco’s “Schmilco” finds the Chicago sextet in a mostly acoustic mood, musing on happiness, loneliness, isolation and loss.

Not exactly arena rock anthem material. And that should hearten even the most hardened Wilco fan.

“Schmilco” takes a break from Wilco’s last three records that saw them delving heavily into loud electric rock in sometimes brilliant fashion. Instead, it feels more akin to “Sukierae,” the 2014 side project by lead singer and songwriter Jeff Tweedy and his son.

The songs are still melodic, although sometimes dissonant and in minor chords, perfectly matching with the biting lyrics longtime Wilco followers have come to appreciate from Tweedy. He’s described the record, Wilco’s 10th, as “joyously negative,” and it is.

—Scott Bauer, Associated Press