Sia hides in plain sight (and big sound) on ‘This Is Acting’

And if anything, the singer’s strategically chosen, flaxen-wigged stand-ins-from frenzied tween pixie Maddie Ziegler in the original “Chandelier” clip to Lena Dunham on Late Night With Seth Meyers and Kristen Wiig at the Grammys-have only heightened her profile, while slyly tweaking the idea of how the pop game is supposed to be played. “‘Cheap Thrills’ is like her take on an Ace of Base song”, Greg Kurstin, told EW earlier this year. And, indeed, you can hear her self-consciously adapting her style to the perceived needs of Rihanna (in “Cheap Thrills”) or Lana Del Rey (in “Space Between”) or Adele (in “Alive”, which she co-wrote with the British singer). One of the reasons Sia has been so successful as a pop songwriter is that she can craft lyrics and hooks that sound simultaneously personal and generic, expressions of self-confidence and empowerment that could come straight from the heart of just about anyone.

It’s an album concept that not many artists could pull off – but Sia Furler is not your conventional pop star. The plus here is that Sia has written so many damn Pop songs for everyone that she can basically make a hit with her eyes closed. And they are likely familiar with some of the songs – they were written for them. “This Is Acting” features tracks she wrote for A-listers including Adele, Beyoncé and Rihanna but kept for herself after they were rejected. Single “Alive” was co-written with Adele and originally intended for the multiplatinum star, and it shows: Singing of endurance and survival that turns to longing and hope, it’s a mammoth anthem, with a refrain that pushes the needle into the red.

Songs like “Move Your Body” combine crashing beats with buzzing synths to create a loud and pummeling dance hit which Sia’s voice as always has the capacity to cut through. The 40-year-old Australian singer and songwriter – perhaps best known in some quarters for hiding her face on television shows and red carpets – has been pitching her work for more than 20 years. In photographs she hid beneath elaborate wigs; for television performances she hired dancers to act out her songs.

The biggest wildcard on Acting is “Sweet Design”, which samples Sisqo’s “Thong Song” (yes, really) and sounds like a long-lost Destiny’s Child hit about a booty with divine origins: “Word travels fast when you’ve got an ass like mine”.