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Having chased recognition (not to be confused with fame) for over a decade, Australian singer-songwriter Sia’s latest release ‘Some People Have Real Problems’ should be more than enough to guarantee the acknowledgment and respect she’s been craving for so long. It might only be early January but her fourth studio album could register as one of the most straightforward that 2008 has to offer. There are no blinding complexities for the listener to have to deal with, no hidden meanings to have to decipher and best of all no bum tracks.
The album starts with ‘Little Black Sandals’ the first of a string of heartfelt, laid back and soulful tracks that are passionate but not intense, poignant but not miserable and most of all exquisitely formed and easy to fall in love with. Combining subtle strings with piano and creating effortless crescendo’s from humble foundations, the likes of ‘Lentil’, ‘Day Too Soon’ and ‘You Have Been Loved’ allow Sia to exercise complete control over her craft. Although the opening four tracks are all loosely similar in style, they have enough of a personalised edge to prevent them from becoming sickly sweet, contrived, or simply X-Factor fodder.
Thankfully, not only can Sia sing but she also recognises when a change of direction is needed and no sooner said than its done in the form of the empowered and punchy ‘The Girl You Lost To Cocaine’ and ‘Playground’. With soulful and vibrant crossed off the list, the soothing, floating and haunting ‘Academia’ adds yet another string to her bow and serves to establish Sia as multifaceted singer. It also features the backing vocals of a certain well known musician and good friend of hers, Beck. Sia has always found writing music on her own difficult and not only finds it easier but enjoys the process much more with friends. Its not just Beck who’s in on the act, not only do Turin Brakes pop up, but so too does Ray Davies in the comfortably dreamlike ‘I Go To Sleep’ with its solitary, meandering piano and delicate wordplay.
Her vocal passion and self-belief are so strong that they practically make her lyrics unintelligible and almost irrelevant in parts through the likes of ‘Death By Chocolate’, ‘Soon We’ll Be Found’, ‘Beautiful Calm Driving’ and the fragile serenity exhibited throughout ‘Lullaby’; allowing her more than capable vocal to communicate perfectly without necessitating lyrics. But if there were any doubt cast, it’s firmly shrugged off through the bonus track ‘Buttons’ which adds splashes of curiously retro instrumentation to her deliciously refreshing vocal and provides an intriguing excursion into left of centre pop.
Perfectly simple and sincere, the album’s structure is an accurate reflection of Sia’s vocal style; one that she’s been practising and refining over the years and one that is begging to be heard. ‘Some People Have Real Problems’ is all about that vocal, nothing more and nothing less. That’s not to say that her music lacks meaning or arrangement, far from it, but her amazingly textured styling’s and staggering vocal depth, pleasantly smother the senses and radiate a contagious and warm honesty. Undoubtedly a triumph for Sia, it’s an album that deserves to transform what has previously been muted appreciation into widespread applause.
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