Pipe down Sia. You had your moment.
In fact, she’s had several moments, albeit largely writing
for others. Last year’s ‘1000 Forms Of Fear’ marked the moment that Sia finally
became a fully-fledged popstar in her own right, bringing her huge success with
the cataclysmic Chandelier. Stretching
that into another album, though, is a step too far.
Of course, songwriting is tough business. For every hit, there
are hundreds of rejected songs cast aside. For many, that’s where they should
stay. But when ‘This Is Acting’ consists of songs rejected by other artists,
you have to ask: why? Why were they rejected? And why release them?
The simplest pleasure from ‘This Is Acting’ is playing ‘guess
the popstar’. It’s well documented that Alive,
for instance, was written with Adele in mind (she even has a writing credit) and
her voice certainly could’ve leant some needed weight to the belted chorus.
Elsewhere the Latino dance rhythms of Move
Your Body were probably written for Shakira; the laidback feel of Reaper and the reggae beats of Cheap Thrills are clearly aimed at
Rihanna; and only Beyoncé could pull off power ballad Footprints. Listening through is a bit like a musical puzzle.
It also provides some insight into the workings of Sia as a
songwriter. Dealing strictly with pop structures, it’s easy to pick out key Sia
tropes: from the soaring melodies, to the repeated lyrical earworms, the chorus
reprise with reduced production, and the general sense of melodrama. Sia’s not
known for her subtlety and ‘This Is Acting’ is as relentless as you’d expect.
The problem is that her formula gets tired quickly. Nestled amongst other
songs, a Sia banger can do wonders for a popstar, but a whole album’s worth
becomes overly repetitive. This is common denominator manufactured pop that
spans an awkward line between Sia’s distinct characteristics and the
personalities of other artists. The title really is apt. And where Sia keeps bringing the same sorts of songs, it's understandable that popstars would want something fresh and novel instead.
The other major issue is Sia’s grating vocal. “I’ll shout it
out like a bird set free”, she squawks on the opening track and that continues
throughout the album. Alternating between mumbling and shouting, her voice cracks
painfully on the higher notes of Alive
(this is probably for purposeful, ironic effect on the lines “I’m still
breathing”), it has a weird vibrato thing on One Million Bullets, and on the whole is as likeable as marmite.
With Sweet Design,
she finally breaks the mould with a choppy hip-hop track that references Sisqo’s
Thong Song. It’s out of character for
her, but finally brings something a little different, proving what Sia can
achieve when she steps out of her box. Yet that happens too infrequently,
leaving us with an album that confirms you can have too much of a good thing.
Sia’s moment has passed, so let’s leave her swinging from the chandelier where
she belongs.
2/5
Gizzle’s Choice:
* Alive
* Move Your Body
* Sweet Design
Listen: ‘This Is Acting’ is out now.
