SANTIGOLD

Four years is an eternity in pop music, yet Santigold sounds as distinctive on her second album as she did on her first, 2008’s Santogold. (Born Santi White, she changed her stage name slightly in 2009 to avoid legal entanglements.) Like her debut, Master of My Make-Believe is a mix of styles, blending elements of new wave, dub reggae and electro-rock into a compelling hybrid, with writing and production help from Diplo, Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner and Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio. In some ways, Santigold’s latest is heavier in tone than her first, with deep, thick rhythms and weighty lyrics on “This Isn’t Our Parade” and “The Keepers,” which has a soaring melody on the refrain. There are brighter moments, too. Opener “GO!” barrels along on a tangle of frenetic rhythm (and a guest spot from Yeah Yeah Yeahs singer Karen O), and “Big Mouth” is three minutes of gleeful trash talk that’s at once brash and sultry—just like Santigold herself. –Eric R. Danton