M.I.A. has described the follow-up to 2008's acclaimed 'Kala' as “really odd.”

The star - full name Maya Arulpragasam – says she plans to release the record in the spring and claims it is “gimmick” free.

She told NME.com: “I wanted it to be like, no gimmicks. It’s my third album and I have to kind of confront whether I am a musician or not.

“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.”

M.I.A. has once again teamed up with producers DJ Blaqstarr, Diplo and Switch on the record.

(by Scott Colothan)