On the surface, M.I.A. is a hot girl with lots of style. Pop music is littered with them. But if you’ve been paying attention at all, obviously there’s a lot more to her than what you see.

M.I.A’s explosive mix of underground beats and overt political tendencies (she was born in Sri Lanka to a family deeply immersed in the Tamil Tigers, a separatist group) rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, but also gained her a massive international following that readily embraced her militaristic chic. The impact of her 2005 debut “Arular” was immediate. By the end of the year, she was opening arena shows for Gwen Stefani.

In order to make her eagerly anticipated follow-up, “Kala” (due out August 21), M.I.A. found herself going on a global tour to record with an eclectic mix of producers, ranging from previous partner in crime Diplo and super-producer Timbaland to “thieves with mullets and moustaches that live in a little village in India and never leave town,” as she told “Fader” magazine recently. At the same time, ongoing visa issues kept her from coming back to America. Only recently has she been able to get clearance.

Surprisingly, the album has yet to leak onto the internet. What has hit the airwaves finds our girl having a bit of a Bjork moment, digging deep into a polyrhythmic bag of tricks to create beat-crazy tracks like “Boyz” and “Bird Flu.” A German website had 30-second snippets of other songs that was quickly pulled down, but not before we could hear some interesting ideas, like a sample of the Clash’s “Straight to Hell” to her own interpolation of the Pixies’ “Where is My Mind?”

With her visa problems presently sorted, M.I.A.’s two-night stand at the Echoplex was most memorable, to say the least.

You Want More? A cool collaboration with Baltimore bad girl (and Metromix favorite) Amanda Blank, called “Take it Easy,” is readily available online. Blank will be in Los Angeles September 29th as part of the Neighborhood festival. Life is good.

Scott T. Sterling is Music editor for Metromix Los Angeles.