Santogold: Santogold

"Me, I'm a creator / thrill is to make

it up / the rules I break got me a place up on the radar." Those

lyrics—from the M.I.A.-aping track "Creator," off of Santogold's

self-titled debut—smack of wearisome indie-hop posturing. But when

nestled amid songs that liberally pluck bits from new wave, indie rock, dub,

post-punk, and a host of other influences, the boast rings true, and validates

Santogold's next-big-thing status. Santogold (a.k.a. songwriter Santi White, who has

worked as a hired gun for popsters Lily Allen and Ashlee Simpson) manages to

weave together a strange amalgam of tracks that sound almost nothing alike, yet

are unmistakably part of the same whole. Credit goes in part to her distinctive

voice and ace production from collaborator John Hill, plus a sprinkling of

hotshot knob-turners like Diplo and Switch, but Santogold's relentless

disregard for genre boundaries in the service of a stellar pop song is the real

glue that holds the album together. Though at times it threatens to become

overbearing in its eclecticism, Santogold's solid lyricism and pop sensibility

keep the album from disappearing up its own ass. Her concern lies more with

party-starting than cred-boosting.