This Is Acting // Sia

Last Friday was the day Sia’s new album This Is Acting was released. I’ve been looking forward to this ever since I heard the first single of the album.

It is not as great as I hoped it would be, but still a good record. There are some stunning songs on there, but also some that are a bit strange.

To give you a good impression on what the album is like I decided to write a little track by track review. I hope you like it.

The album is starting great with Bird Set Free and Alive. I’ve talked about Bird Set Free already in a post last year and it is still one of my favourite songs. Some of the lyrics of the song can be seen as the mantra of this record in a way: “I don’t care if I sing off key – I find myself in my melodies – I sing for love, I sing for me – I shout it out like a bird set free.”

Alive is also sounding awesome. I love these two songs, they’re brilliantly written and with Sia’s voice they get a special touch. She’s got this special power and these little imperfections that make the songs real and not generic pop songs.

But then, it gets a bit weird… One Million Bullets is confusing me a little to be honest. But I think a bit of weirdness is what matters about Sia and is what makes her the intense artist she is. Move Your Body sounds a bit like Lady Gaga, which doesn’t have to be a bad thing, but makes the song sound a bit like it’s on the wrong album.

However the next song called Unstoppable brings back Sia’s characteristic sound and is another favourite of mine. The perfect motivational song for the days when you feel a bit down.

Cheap Thrills is a bit funkier and a lot of fun. Let the song itself tell you what it’s for: “Hit the dancefloor”. I really like this one as well, I’m always up for a little dance session.

Reaper on the contrary has got a slight soul sound and I’ve got no idea why, but it makes me think of a walk on the beach, what makes the lyrics a bit odd…

House On Fire is a bit shallow compared with the other songs; it’s alright, but nothing special. It’s not the whole song, but there’s this certain beat in the background that reminds me a bit of Katy Perry’s Roar. Now I’m the weird one, I know.

Footprints is a nice and slightly dramatic pop ballad which is enjoyable and quite calming. But be careful afterwards you get abruptly woken up by Sweet Design. The song has a salsa vibe and is very uptempo. Even though the song sounds quite good it doesn’t fit onto the album, I’m sorry.

Luckily, Broken Glass and Space Between give the album a way better ending. Broken Glass is a dark, powerful pop song that sounds great when played really loud and shows off Sias special tone in her voice. Space Between is another showcase for Sia’s voice and it left me with goosebumps. Great song choice to finish the record.

You can tell I’m not over the moon with the record. It’s amazing in the beginning and the end, but it shows signs of weakness in the middle such as wrong song choices. But most of the songs sound great on their own at least.

What I like about the record are the arcs of suspense within the tracks and throughout the whole album. Sia is an brilliant artist who is allowed some experimenting and therefore the album is on it’s way to be a Number 1 album in some countries with good reason.

Have you listened to it yet? What do you think? Let me know!

Love
Julia x