The Top 20 Albums of 2010 #2 Sia: We Are Born

The Top 20 Albums of 2010

#2 Sia: We Are Born

Words by Dirk Calloway

Preface: You're reading the penultimate post of a daily series, which has reviewed the best albums of 2010, as decided by me. You can catch up on missed entries by clicking this link here.

Sia just keeps getting better. She's producing music more vibrant and alive than anyone in pop right now. Think about her nearest rivals: Lady Gaga is revealing herself to either be a one-trick pony or a wannabe-Madonna; Britney Spears is dependent on A-class producers to continue churning out hits; Christina Aguilera's most recent album didn't connect with me, but her back-catalogue is strong enough for her to remain a serious contender in the pop world; Pink seems to be chasing the power-ballad crowd; Janelle Monae needs another album or two under her belt to produce something focused enough for her abundance of talent; Rihanna looked like she was going places, but then released the sloppy Loud in 2010; Beyonce can still crank out an awesome single, but needs to drop the wannabe-Whitney Houston schtick stat; and, finally, where the hell is Gwen Stefani? Wait, final finally, I totally forgot about Katy Perry already. That happened quicker than usual.

Rant over! Do you see my frustration though? Gorramit, is it too much to ask for slickly produced pop stars singing good music? Sia, bless her, doesn't seem to think that's a big challenge at all. Holy hell We Are Born has some rocking things going for it. Let's start with the guitar.

Heard of The Strokes? The dude above, with his beloved Epiphone Riviera, is Nick Valensi and he's one of the key ingredients to The Strokes' success. He's collaborated with Sia on this record - or, rather, she's collaborated with him! - to infuse a rock-based groove in each of the pop tracks. I want to be careful how I phrase this paragraph, because I don't want to make it sound like Valensi's skills (and other guitarists Gus Seyffert and Greg Kurstin) caused magic in the creation of We Are Born. Quite the opposite, I wish to praise Sia for her collaboration-based style. Many of the best pop albums were done where strong personalities and styles collided head-on into each other. As an example, think of Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones' three-album long partnership, which yielded a consistent growth from both artist and producer. In the case of Sia, without knowing much about her at all really, it looks to me like she's eager to work with many of the best people around, and her music is all the better for it. Last album featured Beck on a couple of tracks, and to feature Valensi so prominently on this one was a really cool decision. Check out the guitar riff on first song The Fight

Wow, that's a fun riff. Producer Greg Kurstin has done some nice magic here. Little bursts of piano punctuate the right ear whenever there's a silent moment. The backup vocals surround the listener's head in a swirl of chants. A cool bass line keeps things simmering throughout, complimenting a treble-heavy Hight Hat from the drummer. And then there's that guitar... perfect tone and just relentlessly riffing from start to finish. Gorgeous production, elevating the song from being a fairly simple ditty into a world-class track. Whenever it comes on, my head starts bopping. But that's not the only such cut on the album... I'm a big fan of everything else too, and nothing is outright bad. Here's a pictorial blow-by-blow, using the ratings I assigned in iTunes:

Get the idea? Sia is swinging on vines through a forest of quality on We Are Born. There are peaks throughout the record. The best bit is that most of their introductions are quite distinct from the main content of the track itself, which means I'm always caught off-guard by the songs' hooks. If you're such a hard-ass that you're not surprised by them, then the marketing and music videos might do the trick... check out this bug-nuts insane video:

Love it. The nice news is that Sia can bring it when she's performing live too. Unlike her contemporaries, she actually sings in her performances. The trade-off is that you won't catch her cavorting around the stage too much, but being stationary allows her to lean back and perfectly belt out the vocal lines. It's a wise decision her half, because this is a rock-pop record, and it just wouldn't be right if she were to start lip-synching to the punters.

Little girl, big voice huh? Great band too. I think I'm going to let the music above speak for itself here in my final paragraph:

• You won't find slutty lyrics anywhere in these tracks (Katy Perry's "I want to see your peacock" anyone? Sigh)
• There's either none or very little pitch-correction in Sia's vocals
• The music itself sounds like it's by a real band in a real studio, playing real instruments (unlike Britney's latest, which sounds like it was entirely composed in Fruity Loops)
• All of the songs, bar an unnecessary Madonna cover, sound completely original. This isn't a 'genre' exercise trying to emulate some icon from the 80s, nor is it a cookie-cutter release that sounds like you could cut and paste other R&B vocalists into the mix
• Sia's vocal range is refreshingly "alto" - never over-extending, but also refusing to rest on low-pitched laurels. There's a breathiness to the delivery (especially on the haunting last track) that, again, seems "real" in a way that is stupidly rare for pop music in the 2000s.

Have I sold you on it yet? Maybe you're never going to be keen on pop, I understand. Tomorrow's Album of the Year prize might be more up your alley then. In the meantime, thanks for reading, I'll see you very soon for the final post in this series.