Albums to watch

This Is Acting

Sia

This Is Acting

Australian pop act's seventh studio album is a collection of songs mostly written for other people, including songs by Adele and Kanye West

ADM rating[?]

6.4

Label
RCA
UK Release date
29/01/2016
US Release date
29/01/2016
  1. 8.3 |   A.V. Club

    This is the sound of Sia, international pop star with no more personal demons holding her back, and it’s a beautiful noise
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  2. 8.0 |   NME

    If you can buy into its concept, Sia’s play-acting is very entertaining indeed
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  3. 8.0 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    Ultimately, it’s a great collection of pop songs, cynical or not
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  4. 8.0 |   The Arts Desk

    Not many people can make such success from something that, first time round, could be deemed a failure
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  5. 8.0 |   The Independent

    If this is acting, then what would she be like doing it for real?
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  6. 8.0 |   The Irish Times

    If there’s a downside it’s that the songs aren’t necessarily emotionally connected to the songwriter, but they’re of such high quality
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  7. 7.0 |   The Music

    It's an emotional rollercoaster, which is nothing less than what you would expect from the superstar at this stage
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  8. 7.0 |   All Music

    This Is Acting's meta-pop is another example of how cleverly Sia brings her experiments into the mainstream
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  9. 7.0 |   Exclaim

    This Is Acting is a fine follow-up to 1000 Forms of Fear, but doesn't quite present anything extraordinary or new
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  10. 7.0 |   No Ripcord

    Every track is a potential hit, and Sia’s use of pure pop hooks, coupled with an astounding control over her rampant voice, makes this a very good record
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  11. 6.8 |   Pitchfork

    This Is Acting, the follow-up to this surprise attack on the Billboard charts, can't help but feel like the big-budget sequel to 1000 Forms of Fear's sleeper hit
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  12. 6.7 |   Consequence Of Sound

    An album filled with riveting pomp and circumstance
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  13. 6.7 |   Pretty Much Amazing

    Whether we like her or not, Sia might be authoring the most iconic pop music of our generation. For this reason alone, This is Acting is worth at least one listen
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  14. 6.0 |   The Guardian

    Perhaps This Is Acting is intended as a tying up of loose ends before she tries something different
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  15. 6.0 |   The FT

    Sia sings them in a slurred voice that takes its cue from jazz rather than pop
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  16. 6.0 |   Digital Spy

    It's more of a Now That's What I Call Sia! compilation of hits and misses - rather than the Very Best of Sia we were hoping for
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  17. 6.0 |   Q

    Runs out of her trademark hooks. Print edition only

  18. 6.0 |   Rolling Stone

    Impressively, though, for an album that's more about utilitarian versatility than making the songs her own, Sia's personality often comes through
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  19. 6.0 |   Slant Magazine

    Part of the fun, of course, is trying to suss out whom these songs were originally written for
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  20. 6.0 |   Spin

    Despite being so joyously engulfed by Sia’s voice, the songs come over as dispossessed orphans, all a variation on that same theme of being lost and held down by overbearing powers and temptations
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  21. 6.0 |   NOW

    She manages to cut through generic themes to inject darker predilections with hard-sung vocals that sound downright masochistic at times
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  22. 6.0 |   DIY

    Acting this may be, but Sia is a more interesting prospect where she goes off-script
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  23. 6.0 |   State

    Let’s hope for her next album, she’s thinking more about herself and less about what to do with her songs if someone says no to them
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  24. 6.0 |   Uncut

    This all-guns-blazing pop portfolio is a touch wearying. Print edition only

  25. 6.0 |   The Observer

    Mass-appeal pop with a manic edge
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  26. 6.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    This is Acting has some good tracks on it and is obviously written by a very talented songwriter, it’s just not an album that demands excitement from its listeners
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  27. 6.0 |   musicOMH

    There are only so many times in 45 minutes you can clench your fists and reach for the sky without it beginning to feel a bit too calculated and contrived
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  28. 6.0 |   PopMatters

    As pop songwriter who can bend her style into so many different forms, This Is Acting is the most compelling when Sia decides to simply be herself.
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  29. 5.0 |   Gig Soup

    The album as a whole is nothing particularly new or exciting but it is another step for Sia to take that will lead us to that point
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  30. 5.0 |   Tiny Mix Tapes

    She’s built an admirable persona that’s both mask and mirror — maybe next time she can show us something we don’t already know
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  31. 4.0 |   Clash

    On ‘This Is Acting’, Sia loses sight of what made her such an interesting artist in the first place
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  32. 4.0 |   Evening Standard

    Her broad back catalogue has finer fare than this
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Sia: This Is Acting

  • Download full album for just £6.99
  • 1. Bird Set Free £0.99
  • 2. Alive £0.99
  • 3. One Million Bullets £0.99
  • 4. Move Your Body £0.99
  • 5. Unstoppable £0.99
  • 6. Cheap Thrills £0.99
  • 7. Reaper £0.99
  • 8. House On Fire £0.99
  • 9. Footprints £0.99
  • 10. Sweet Design £0.99
  • 11. Broken Glass £0.99
  • 12. Space Between £0.99
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