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This Is Songwriting: Sia’s 10 Greatest Hits for Other Artists
Sia's coming out with a new album, This Is Acting, that's bound to shine bright like a diamond chandelier so pretty it hurts.
Photo: Getty Images
Sia’s come off a banner year, garnering multiple accolades and racking up millions of downloads from her sixth solo album, 1,000 Forms of Fear — buoyed by the international hit, "Chandelier" and its accompanying video. But never one to rest on her laurels, Ms. Furler has been sitting on what sounds like a future pop masterpiece in the waiting.
"I'm super productive. I have a full album ready to go and it's much more pop," the queer Aussie singer told NME. "I'm calling it This Is Acting because they are songs I was writing for other people, so I didn't go in thinking 'this is something I would say'. It's more like play-acting. It's fun."
In anticipation of This Is Acting, here are 10 of Sia’s greatest gifts to other artists.
“Diamonds” - Rihanna
Until Sir Paul and King Kanye came along, this remained RiRi’s best vocal — though Sia’s acoustic version is arguably better.
“Let Me Love You (Until You Learn to Love Yourself)” - Ne-Yo
What could easily be an eyeroll-inducing sentiment became one of the best millennial Mike Jack-inspired tracks, fittingly sung by serial MJ-aper, Ne-Yo.
“Perfume” - Britney Spears
Sia not only provided Brit-Brit’s best mid tempo jam in years but an ageless jingle for La Spears’ massive fragrance empire.
“Pretty Hurts” - Beyoncé
Leave it to Sia to turn a song about how hard it is being Beyoncé into Bey’s opening salvo in her Grammy-robbed feminist manifesto.
“Sexercize” - Kylie Minogue
A song that delights in its own silliness, Kylie and Sia serve more than a little Olivia Newton-John “Let’s Get Physical” realness — the multiple homoerotic videos give Minogue a stilettoed step up, though.
“Radioactive” - Rita Ora
Sia took it back to the early-90s with this Hi-NRG throwback track— complete with emotive synths, a good old four-to-the-floor and what sounds like a rip from dancefloor classic “Show Me Love" around the 4:20 mark.
“Opulence” - Brooke Candy
O-P-U-L-E-N-C-E. Sia owns everything. Everything is hers.
“You Lost Me” - Christina Aguilera
Instead of packing every note on the scale into a single phrase, the artist occasionally known as Xtina maintains admirable restraint so that a little vocal showboating at around 4:05 will send chills up and down your spine.
“Loved Me Back to Life” - Céline Dion
Céline's legendary voice fits perfectly with Sia's anthemic songwriting, soaring like a beautiful, French Canadian eagle.
“Kill, Fuck, Marry” - Nikki Williams
Sia must have dug this lyric out of the"Been There, Girlfriend" files: “Don’t know what I should do/ Kill, fuck or marry you.”
A version of this article by Les Fabian Brathwaite originally appeared on Out.
