Sia - 'We Are Born' - album review
- Apr 27, 2010
Is it wrong to be slightly cynical about Sia? After all, she is a musician who is well received and appreciated across the world. Plenty of people love her music and now on to fifth album 'We Are Born'. However, we have been lead to believe that despite being a lady who creates everything from the music and lyrics, she doesn’t listen to much music herself.
This can of course be looked at in differing ways. The first possible explanation and one we assume isn’t true is that Sia cherishes her own material so much and only listens to herself on a constant loop, pumping her own angelic voice around her house. Or, it provides a more creative flow when it’s time to visit the studio and record.
After all, the modern pop music scene can often be full of artists who all produce the same sort of sound. Once it’s been saturated to the point of no return, another scene will become victim to a certain maul fest. Indie is still dying a death from horrible dire output. And what’s suffering at the moment? Head stonking drum & bass. A genre previously pushed underground by the government and scaremongers due to its connections to dance music and drugs scene is now becoming slightly more acceptable.
Extra pressure always seems to be heaped on the shoulders of any female who dares enter the solo world of pop. Currently, Lady Gaga has the world in her hand with her oddball blend of zany lyrics and kitchen sink headpiece. Anyone vaguely looking similar is immediately accused of being an unoriginal thieve and someone who’ll then receive silly amounts of Twitter abuse from hardcore fans of the person she’s said to be emulating,
Artists will also be influenced off their peers and fresh talent emerging on the scene, so with this approach to music taken by Sia, no-one can accuse her of borrowing a little bit of this and that from people making a successful record out of banging two car batteries together. For her fifth album 'We Are Born', the record seems to almost bring back memories of early release 'Healing Is Difficult'.
What still remains is the joyous, happy and upbeat tempo of previous releases. Another important factor is Sia’s ability to not take herself too seriously. Simply looking at the video for comeback single 'Clap Your Hands' shows a lot of fun can be had with makeup, puppets and even a volcano. But don’t worry; it’s not the Icelandic plane grounder. Think of Supergrass' 'Pumping On Your Stereo' video, but even trippier.
It’s a harsh reality to face up to, but whilst this album is full of tracks that don’t stick to the same old tired formula and attempt to break the mould, Sia may find this record could be sadly ignored. And annoyingly, it isn’t even her fault. With many supposed high profile artists using their name to sell records, Sia simply uses the raw talent she has instead to create music that people desperately want to hear.
7/10
Matthew Laidlow
