Sound vs. Songs

I've never been a big fan of Critic faves who are more interesting for the sound of their records than their vocals. I'm thinking of Tricky or PJ Harvey. But when you're as effervescent as M.I.A. you can get away with it. On her second album, Kala, she's all sounds and few songs. People who read music mags will be curious as to what the fuss is about, and most will be turned off by the potpourri of sound M.I.A. comes up with. A planned Timbaland collaboration never got past one song here, but I have a feeling she's going to go Pop on her next album. But the first two are for the critic's and the fringes of pop stardom that she's now on.