Santi “Gold” White was my discovery of 2008, a new-wave fever dream of synth-happy pop and celebrity DJ support (in her case, Diplo) custom-made for the internet and that year’s SXSW festival, which witnessed her bringing down the house with a set that stunned Stubb’s into submission. No one would ever mistake her career as one marked by prolificacy, but thankfully Santigold has focused on quality, not quantity, as her third LP makes evident from the very start.
It lobs the insanely catchy “Can’t Get Enough Of Myself” onto the middle of the dance floor before proceeding to zig-zag through a series of jams that harken back to her roots while simultaneously updating her sound. A collabo with ILOVEMAKONNEN (he of “Club Goin’ Up On A Tuesday”), “Who Be Lovin’ Me,” has already resulted in the internet losing its shit, and it’s easy to believe that the rest of the world will follow suit when capitalist-bashing bangers like “Big Boss Big Time Business,” “Banshee” and “Rendezvous Girl” make the rounds.
—Corey duBrowa
