By Chiara Brambilla

After catching the audience’s attention with her Lady Gaga’s style, the Australian singer, songwriter and record producer Sia Furler released her latest album This is Acting on 29 January 2016, conquering a place in the pop-music hit charts worldwide.

 

This is Acting is a clearly demonstration of Sia’s brilliant “acting” performance of emotional detachment. Most of the songs in the album were written appositely for pop divas such as Rihanna, Adele and Shakira but in the end rejected.

 

That would have been such a waste when there is a collection of most-likely best-selling tunes at stake. The album shifted around 81,000 copies in its first week, making it Sia’s highest first week sales in USA.

 

However, only in the last couple of years, the music industry has witnessed the rise of Sia from cult artist to a mainstream icon. The hits ‘Chandelier’ and ‘Elastic heart’ from her previous album 1000 Forms of Fear definitely gave her the key to the one-way entrance into the pop-vortex of success.

 

It is not surprising that she has received around 40 nominations and won 17 so far for her stunning pieces of work. In April, Sia’s tour will begin: there is no doubts on whether her biting voice will win over the audience.

Her pitch-perfect tones are unmistakable, not to mention her shaggy blonde wig, making her stand out from the other high profile artists. Songwriters and performers do not usually collide but this does not apply to the 40-year-old Australian singer whose has co-written major hits, from Rihanna’s Diamonds to David Guetta’s Titanium. The recipe to succeed is simple: a splash of enigmatic and emotional lyrics, a mix of catchy beats and a pinch of mystery.

 

The album opens up with two intense tracks, ‘Bird Set Free’ and ‘Alive’; they hide an inch of darkness as well as a sense of emotional liberation, clearly exposed by the agonistic ‘I’m still breathing!’ lyric. Her brokenly voice echoes throughout the song amidst powerful piano keys.

 

 ‘Cheap Thrills’ and ‘Move Your Body’ are the perfect catchy commercial pop-songs with a great dancing rhythm; there is no denying these can be the newest serviceable party soundtracks. But the real jam is ‘Broken Glass’. “It's just young lovers' romance”, Sia yells with a sense of devotion; those broken words reverberate throughout the track, feeling like Furler’s empowerment is about to break down.

 

This Is Acting might not represent the deeply personal achievement of a singer but Sia has what it takes to be the next successful hit-makers. The way she mixes melodies up and channel to others to breath life into emotions makes her album incredibly worth-listening.