Eric R. Danton | Sound Check

CD Review: 'Kala' by M.I.A.

It strains credulity to think an album as accomplished and vital as “Kala” happened more as a result of circumstance than by design, but that's how Maya Arulpragasam ended up making her second record.

After rhyming about her life as a Sri Lankan refugee growing up in London on her 2005 debut “Arular,” the singer known as M.I.A. turns her attention outward on “Kala.” It's a globe-spanning album, packed full of booming club beats with nods to hip-hop, baile funk, '80s alt-rock and Bollywood and steeped in pointed political excoriations on behalf of the Third World poor.

Yet “Kala” didn't start that way.

Paul van Dyk, Jessica Sutta tell 'White Lies' in local studio

"White Lies," the first single from the forthcoming album by renowned DJ Paul van Dyk, is a product in part of Onyx Soundlab, a recording studio in Manchester.

The song features Pussycat Doll Jessica Sutta, who recorded her vocals at Onyx Soundlab when the Pussycat Dolls were in Hartford opening for Christina Aguilera in April, says Adam Gootkin, co-owner of the studio (and Tha Zoo Records). The single is available Tuesday, July 31. Van Dyk's album, "In Between," is set for release Aug. 14.

The video for "White Lies" features Sutta writhing in various revealing outfits. Check it out (but not when the boss is looking):

Paul van Dyk featuring Jessica Sutta - White Lies