ALBUM REVIEW: Sia – This is Acting
Sia has already had a long successful music career. As a singer / song writer Sia has written and produced many songs for popular artists. However, it wasn’t until her hit single “Chandelier” came out that she quickly became a world wide sensation. Her album 1000 Forms of Fear and hit songs from that album had quickly climbed the charts for most, if not all in 2015. When it was announced that Sia would be releasing another album music fans everywhere were curious to hear what she would come up with next. On January 29, 2016 Sia’s Seventh Studio Album This is Acting was released.
The interesting thing to note about this album is that every song on it was intended for different artists. Some of those artist include Adele, Rhianna and Beyonce. The only song that wasn’t sent to another artist was ‘One million bullets’
“Yes, actually, I guess all of them were written with the intention of being for somebody else. But there is one I didn’t send to anybody called ‘One Million Bullets.’ That one I liked — and I already had so much of the album completed — but I loved it and didn’t want to give it to anyone else” – Sia
Since the songs were intended for different people you can really hear the difference between each song, it’s almost like a fun game to guess which artist each song could have been written for. While the album is kind of all over the place genre wise it seems to all mesh and go together on one album perfectly.
Truthfully, some songs on the album are better than others. Sia’s voice is very distinct and is best showcased in songs that have a lot of soul, with at being said, Sia’s voice compliments some songs, while others not so much.
The first three tracks “Bird Set Free”, the newest single “Alive” and “One Million Bullets” are song that people what would expect from a Sia album. That however quickly changes when listeners hear “Move your body”, “Cheap Thrills” and “Sweet Designs”. These three songs are very upbeat and sounds like something Shakira, Rihanna or Beyonce would sing. While these songs weren’t my favourite on the album it was still interesting to hear Sia do something out there and different.
Overall I would have to say that this album is a great follow up album to Sia’s previous album 1000 Forms of Fear as it allows her fans and others who to get a taste of what Sia is really capable of doing musically. I also admire how she was able to turn the rejection of these songs into something so amazing.
Notable songs: Bird Set Free, Alive, Reaper, Space Between
Rating 4/5
This Is Acting Tracklist:
- Bird Set Free
- Alive
- One Million Bullets
- Move Your Body
- Unstoppable
- Cheap Thrills
- Reaper
- House on Fire
- Footprints
- Sweet Designs
- Broken Glass
- Space Between
Sony Music Canada releases “This Is Acting” January 29 in Canada (Today!)
