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Before her premature death in a boating accident in Mexico, Kirsty MacColl recorded Tropical Brainstorm, an album that clearly demonstrates the interest in world music, particularly with a Latin beat, that MacColl had been investigating for several years prior to her death.

Tropical Brainstorm is lush with Latin rhythms, lyrics in both English and Spanish, and a laidback,
"mañana" kind of mood. While MacColl is serious about her endeavors, the entire album has an overall feel that it's all about fun, so be mellow, relax, and don't take the songs all that seriously. That truly is the only way to interpret songs such as "In These Shoes" and "Treachery." In the latter, MacColl stalks a fan who has started to give up on her and is buying another singer's records. In the former, MacColl gets downright sardonically witty and sexy at the same time. Although she may not be able to dance in those shoes, listeners might be ready to mambo.

There's more sardonic wit in "England 2, Columbia 0" as MacColl compares being lied to by a lover to identifying with the losing team in a football match. Of course, she seems to get the best of it in the end as she concludes, "Now you can go to hell, I'm going to Brazil." How's that for taking charge of a bad situation?

MacColl's last album represents a change in her musical style. However, that said, while, she maintains her usual wit in terms of lyric writing skills. MacColl had spent a lot of time in Latin America, particularly Cuba, in the years immediately prior to her death. Her love of the region shows, and there's no telling if this album was meant be merely a one off or if she might have continued further down this road. Whatever those results might have been, she exits on a light-hearted romp with a Latin pulse. While this album may seem a change of pace from her usual darker compositions, she seemed happy with the music she was making, as she practically chants on the dance track "Alegría": "Alegría, alegría/happiness and joy," she declares. It's not a bad mantra to be remembered by.

For more information visit www.kirstymaccoll.com