I have to give you my Sia Introduction/Writeup now because I am leaving for Hawaii later this week. Hooray for being behind on the playlists before it even begins! This writeup and a lot of my song writeups will be summarized from various reddit posts as I'm fairly new to most of her catalog.
Sia Kate Isobelle Furler
Sia is an Australian singer/songwriter/producer/activist/wig enthusiast, She is famous for her unique raspy voice and voice cracks, and songwriting credits. Sia's music has changed genres a couple of times over her career. She started out singing for an acid jazz band called Crisp. When they disbanded in 1997, she then did some vocals for the British triphop duo Zero 7, before releasing her solo albums and seeing some success. If you've ever watched the HBO show "Six Feet Under", in particular the finale (AKA best series finale ever), I'm sure you remember and recognize one song that grew popular in the US because of its use in this episode. A few more years down the line, she began doing some songwriting for other pop artists before releasing her own pop albums that thrust her into stardom.
Sia's catalog can be categorized as pre-2010 and post-2010. While her life has always been problematic, in 2010, her growing fame, couple with her addictions, depression, and diagnosis with Graves disease took its toll. She refused to do promos for her tours, began to wear a mask on stage and became increasingly dependent on drugs and alcohol on the road. This nearly drove her to suicide. She took a hiatus from singing and public appearances, and began her career as a songwriter, writing songs for other famous and rising pop stars including Beyoncé, Kylie Minogue, Flo Rida and Rihanna. In 2014, she burst back onto the scene with what many consider her magnum opus album that was praised for its personal tone and showcased Sia's vulnerable side. This also marked her transition from an indie "jazzy rock" singer to full on pop music. Because of all of this, I have chosen to present her playlist in chronological order. I will include my personal rankings in song writeups.
What to expect from a Sia song:
Pre-2010: Minimal, upbeat jazz influenced songs with themes being introspective or relationship based. Some labels for this stage of her career have included jazz, folktronica, synthpop.
Post-2010: Electro-heavy, down tempo songs, with powerful vocals and lyrics full of metaphors about her own personal conflicts.
My playlist will also include some interesting covers Sia has done, as well as some songs from other artists that she has written. So if you see a song on the playlist from a seemingly new artist out of nowhere, it's a song Sia wrote. Since these come right in the middle of her career, this will be a nice intermission in between her pre and post 2010 work.
Why did I choose Sia?
When I did my Sigur Ros playlist, I mentioned that I really like music that delivers powerful emotions and really makes you feel things. I feel like Sia's voice and songs deliver this like few other pop artists have. I also wanted to switch it up and go with an artist this is a bit more accessible. I really liked the inclusion of Taylor Swift in the last draft (and was bummed when Beyonce didn't happen), and I feel like this one will have similar vibes, surprising a lot of people who may only see her as a pop singer.
I, like many, first discovered Sia while watching Six Feet Under as mentioned above, and I probably had that song on repeat for a month. Despite this, at the time I never really dove into her catalog, granted this was very early in her career and there was not much solo stuff out there. It wasn't until hearing Chandelier years later on all the radio stations that I realized there was something that clicked with me about her music in general. I now have a bunch of new favorites from this deep dive.