Australia’s foremost pop songstress Sia Furler has revealed to BBC Radio 2 host Jo Whiley, that she gave pop superstar Rihanna four tracks for her new album as recently as last week. Sia informed fans that she had presented the diva with a collection 25 original songs for potential use on her forthcoming ANTI- album.
While Sia noted that four songs had been taken away from the meeting, she was unsure if any would appear on the album. She also stated that she had earlier offered her own single Alive to Rihanna, but it had been rejected because ‘it just didn’t fit’ with any other tracks on the new record.
It’s not the first time Sia has lent her songwriting talents to Rihanna. Furler was the composer of successful 2012 single Diamonds prior to her own return to the world of pop stardom with 1000 Forms of Fear in 2014.
With singles from Rihanna’s 8th studio album Bitch Better Have My Money and American Oxygen having dropped earlier this year and the album having been officially launched in September many fans speculated the album to be released sometime in December. That said, the album has yet to materialise. Given these new details, it seems unlikely that we’ll be seeing her album before 2016.
With a 2016 world tour on the cards in February it seems that there mounting pressure on Rihanna to release the much anticipated album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr1VMr28ldo
Read more: Rihanna talks Chris Brown, Rachel Dolezal and more in Vanity Fair interview
Hot on the promo tour for her single Alive, Sia graced Ellen and The Voice US to perform the soaring ballad, bringing back young dancer Maddie Ziegler for the first time since performing in the video for Big Girls Cry, from Sia’s previous album 1000 Forms of Fear.
Her first single from her new album This Is Acting has reached number 10 on Australian charts, but has failed to reach the highs of her previous singles overseas. Yet her performance on Ellen especially should ignite some hype with Ziegler’s appearance, who came to attention on talent show Dance Moms, before beying employed by Sia to perform in the video clips for her three single from 1000 Forms of Fear, including chart-topping Chandelier and Elastic Heart, also featuring Shia LeBeouf, which earned some un-deserved controversy from critics.
Ziegler doesn’t appear in the official video for Alive, nor in the cover art for her new album This Is Acting, but this performance heralds a welcome return – there’s a potent chemistry between the two. Sia is cloaked beneath a large black dress per her usual pledge of anonymity, yet Ellen has hinted that Sia may reveal her face on TV for the first time since her rise to global prominence. Maddie is dramatic and visually stunning as always, cavorting around the stage, even shattering a window in the process.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkdJEAnYji8
Sia is similarly hidden beneath her black and white bob in her performance on The Voice, albeit without Maddie – garnering a standing ovation from the crowd and the superstar judges.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oo-EQSrAxA
Since the release of Alive, Sia has dropped Bird Set Free and One Million Bullets from her new album, which is a compilation of rejected songs she has written for other artists, including Adele.
Those artists might be regretting that decision right about now.
Sia’s new album This Is Acting is set for release on January 29.
Sia has given fans an early Christmas treat, releasing a new song titled One Million Bullets. This marks the third single we’ve heard from her upcoming album This is Acting.
I’ll straight up say that this is my favourite Sia song since Chandelier.
The track opens on a warm electronic beat, gently anchoring the track as ambient guitars and soft piano floats up above. This is a really mellow side of Sia, devoid of the puffed-out balladeering on previous singles Alive and Bird Set Free. Subtle and temperate, the bare soundscape and intimate tones really do draw you in – particularly on the low, slow tones before the bridge, as her voice gently bounces with the slightest vibrato.
In true Sia fashion, the instruments pull back before breaking into a huge chorus. The uplifting melody soars with immense, glorious power, and you’ll want to play it over and over again. Tthis is Sia at her best.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4Ib25IUZ-Y#action=share
Sia recently told NME that This Is Acting will continue along the pop trajectory heard on 2014’s groundbreaking 1000 Forms of Fear. She noted that last year’s record was “just to get out of my publishing deal,” but the success of Chandelier inspired her to keep writing music. “I’ve been super productive. I have [This is Acting] ready to go, and it’s much more pop.”
This Is Acting will be released on January 29, 2016.
Sia returned to global television sets over the weekend, with a highly anticipated appearance on Saturday Night Live, hosted by the presidency candidate, and certainly one of SNL’s most controversial hosts ever, Donald Trump. The upraor surrounding Trump led this particular episode to get the highest views SNL has had in four years, so it’s safe to say that a lot of people have just been reintroduced to the Australian artist, too.
Sia performed her two latest singles Alive and Bird Set Free with a lone dancer beside her. In true Sia-fashion, the dancer told the stories behind the lyrics with a powerful routine. In the meantime Sia sang with pitch-perfect vocals and a stage presence any artist would envy.
In short, she was phenomenal.
Following the recent release of its music video, Alive was the first song performed. The dancer wore a karate uniform, so we could assume it would be similar to the choreography. The camera angles and focus on Sia made it difficult to follow her, but, from what we saw and of course hear, it was a powerful performance. Sia also had several back-up singers accompanying her, collectively raising the roof off of the studio – not that Sia needed them, exactly, what with her powerhouse voice a demanding presence in itself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6cQ4PeD3lM
The second performance of the night of her latest release Bird Set Free, had the same simple set up, minus the backup singers, with the singer on stage in a black sheet, standing next to her dancer. As Sia’s voice rose to sing the chorus, the dancer fell to the floor in a kicking, shaking fit. As the song went on and Sia continued to impress, we found it was impossible to look away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TngrGiY9II
Sia’s new album This Is Acting will be released on January 29th.
Continuing the hype leading up to Sia’s new album, This Is Acting, that Australian pop powerhouse has dropped the next tidbit for her slavering fans. Having already released two singles off the new record, this week Sia unveiled the official video for her resounding new track Alive.
The track itself has been pretty well covered as the roaring return of the enigmatic singer. A larger than life anthem, showcasing Sia’s heart wrenching vocal as it cracks and storms through the massive chorus. With fans calling for a collaboration between Sia and UK songstress Adele, Alive is pretty much that. With Sia taking the track for her own after it didn’t make Adele’s comeback release 25, her prowess as a songwriter is also common knowledge with her name behind any number of pop hits.
With Sia’s distinctive spin on Alive, the video echoes her creative and often unexpected style. Directed by Sia herself and Daniel Askill (the same creative team behind the videos for Chandelier, Elastic Heart and Big Girls Cry), the clip features 9 year old child actress/dancer Mahiro Takano. Shot in Chiba, Japan, the simple concept of the atmospheric room and Takano’s defiant karate sequence has left some fans unmoved. Dressed in muted colours and with Sia’s trademark two tone bob, Takano is the personification of the reminiscent lyrics: I was born in a thunderstorm / I grew up overnight / I played alone / I’m playing on my own / I survived
True, this video does concentrate more on the visual aesthetic than any narrative, filled with light and shadow and arty shots of Takano’s choreography. It’s beautifully shot, and there is a slightly thrilling quality to this young girl’s precise, fighter-like moves. But even if you’ve seen enough by the time you’re only halfway through, most viewers on YouTube seem willing to forgive on the grounds of just how damn cute Takano is.
Check out the video below, or pre-order Sia’s The Is Acting here and receive both Alive and her latest track, Bird Set Free, instantly. You can also catch Sia performing both songs on Saturday Night Live on November 7.
This Is Acting is released on January 29.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2NgsJrrAyM]
Stooped in secrecy and anonymity, Sia still somehow finds a way to make waves without ever showing her face. After her powerful hit Alive dropped last month, she has now returned with her second single Bird Set Free which is taken off her upcoming album This Is Acting. The single navigates a welcome return to some her earlier work, reminiscent of her album We Are Born.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrT_0J6m6y8
As long time fans of the Australian songstress, the promise of another album so soon after breaking new ground with 1000 Forms of Fear was understandably exciting to us at H&E. This is perhaps why to an extent I forced myself to like Alive when the reality was, apart from some devilish verses, a somewhat empty pop tune that relied too heavily on Sia’s enormous vocals to carry a fairly conventional chorus.
Bird Set Free, however, embraces the nuances that are synonymous with Sia – intricate hooks embedded in the verses, subtle percussion laced with heavy piano progressions and a massive chorus.
Sia must be hoping to ride some of the Adele hype as she rips apart the industry once again, as this is the second consecutive song that was meant for Adele’s new album 25. Adele briefly spoke about working with Sia in her recent interview with Rolling Stone even though none of the songs they worked on made Adele’s album:
“I actually love the dynamic of us both being in there and just fucking being bossy. And it’s all these male producers, and they’re all fucking shitting themselves ’cause we’re in there.”
Along with the new single, Sia’s new album This Is Acting now has a release date of January 29 and she has released the cover art, which is reminiscent of her video for Buttons. The album is comprised of songs she has written for other artists that didn’t make the cut – including ones for Beyonce and Rihanna.
The Sia juggernaut is showing no signs of slowing down, with the release of a lyric video for her monstrous ballad Alive. The first single from her upcoming album This is Acting is brought to life in a grimly world where the lyrics are scrawled on the urban landscape in graffiti by a bunch of faceless people. Of course, this hardly comes as a surprise, as Sia’s main calling card is her anonymity and is identified more easily through her distinctive blonde bob. However, even that has undergone a makeover, as half of the blonde has been replaced by black.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhshMjRNhs0
As with the rest of her upcoming album This is Acting, the song was originally meant for someone else, in this case Adele. Sia has said the song has always held a place in her heart, and she’s managed to transform the song into a powerhouse pop anthem that gives an idea of what to expect from the new album – less vulnerability and a heavy dose of pop.
The song was co-written by rising talent Tobias Jesso Jr. and Adele, and will appear alongside a slew of other songs originally meant for other artists – including Beyonce, Katy Perry, Rihanna and Celine Dion.
But for now, we await the full music video for Alive. Much of the success of her previous album was owed to Maddie Ziegler who transformed her videos into viral sensations with her exquisite dancing – with the addition of famous faces such as Shia LaBeouf and even Kristen Wiig.
Whoever appears, one thing can be certain – you won’t catch a glimpse of Sia’s face.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWZGAExj-es
Cryptic Facebook posts, hidden drawings around the country and more – guerrilla marketing has never been so rife. Australia’s Duchess of Pop, Sia, has been gearing up to release a brand new single – and Alive is now here.
The track is the first we’ve heard from her brand new album This is Acting, due for release later this year. It was co-written alongside Adele and Tobias Jesso Jr., and features production from Chandelier-producer Jesse Shatkin.
Sia’s chair atop music royalty has been waiting for her for some time. Penning tracks for the world’s biggest stars, including Beyonce, Rihanna, Kate Perry, Celine Dion and Carly Rae Jepsen, alongside featured collabs with Eminem and Giorgio Moroder, she finally emerged as an internationally renowned star in her right last year, with the release of her dazzling 1000 Forms of Fear.
In some ways, Alive is different to the heavy, forlorn material she showcased on 1000 Forms, perhaps an indicator of what we’ll be hearing on This Is Acting. It’s an anthem for the misshapen – “I was born in a thunderstorm…I grew up overnight,” she croons in the opening piano chords of the track (a mere example of the lyrical prowess of the song, no doubt helped by Jesso Jr.’s songwriting credits), before moving into almost Gloria Gaynor territory as she cries, “I survived.”
The anthemic quality of Alive is only bolstered by its powerhouse chorus.“I’m still breathing,” she belts over a thunderous drum beat and dramatic strings that swell and oscillate. Well, Sia, we’re certainly not, especially after this song. Have a listen of the track below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xJrcWtM6jQ
If you whittled it down to the pure core, it would be harder to find two names more relevant to female musical output than FKA Twigs and Sia. Sitting at opposite ends of the spectrum, Twigs seduces with her sexually charged bedroom numbers, and the untouchable Sia shies away from attention with her masks and stand in music video performers.
There are few scenarios where the duo would have reason to overlap, so the recent cover by Twigs of Sia’s mega hit Elastic Heart was an unexpected, albeit happy, union. Performed on BBC’s Live Lounge, Twigs reimagining takes the track to places it was never intended to go with breathy undertones and writhing limbs. The ethereal artist borders on otherworldly, supported by a back up dancer for the first time in Live Lounge history.
Twigs has had a big couple of years, releasing her debut album LP1 to critical acclaim, and releasing subsequent album M3LL155X last month. She even dropped a startlingly creative and insightful 16-minute long video to accompany the surprise album.
Twigs also performed her song In Time, and you can check out the whole thing below.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbbYBYWqprQ&w=560&h=315]
The performance follows on from the surprise release of FKA Twigs’ recent EP M3LL155X.
The inevitable teaser trailer for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 has just come out and we are as stoked as any Hunger Games fans to see what the final installation has in store for us.
The eternal struggle between Katniss and President Snow continues in the finale of the epic film series, which features an all ensemble cast of actors like Jennifer Lawrence, Julianne Moore, Liam Hemsworth and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. This last instalment of the franchise will also feature Game of Thrones actress Gwendoline Christie, who will appear as Commander Lyme.
But just as good as the film and franchise itself is the epic and custom-made soundtracks that the film series has spawned over its run, including the likes of Taylor Swift, Arcade Fire, Maroon 5, Coldplay, Sia, Phantogram, Charli XCX, Bat for Lashes and CHVRCHES.
Mockingjay – Part 1 earned praise for its especially excellent soundtrack – one curated by non other than Lorde herself, whose hit Yellow Flicker Beat peaked at 34 on the Billboard Hot 100. The New Zealander helped to assemble an all-star collection of singers to help create the soundtrack.
Even Jennifer Lawrence’s surprise hit The Hanging Tree (as sung by Katniss in the film) was added to the extended version of the soundtrack. Hell, even Kanye West got on board, remixing (or reworking) Lorde’s song into a track called Flicker.
Let’s hope the soundtrack for Mockingjay Part 2 will be just as star-studded as the last!
Check out the trailer here:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmYNkasYthg&w=560&h=315]
The release date for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 is November 19.