Sia's new album: How to make pop | Israel today

Despite the oppressive New Age messages and some generic songs that could have been omitted, the album MUSIC proves once again that Sia is a great singer

• From now on also a director.

  Sia

  Photo: 

  Press

Last week was significant for Sia.

After four years on the shelf, "Music", a film she wrote with Dallas Clayton and which she also directed, was finally released.

Judging by the reviews - this is not a cinematic masterpiece.

While working on the film, his budget was cut by $ 12 million from Warner Music, the Australian star's label, to incorporate songs and turn it into a musical (or, if you will, a $ 16 million commercial for 107 minutes for Sia's new album).

The result, they say, is an incoherent film about music, an autistic girl (Maddie Ziegler, known from the singer's iconic music videos), and her alcoholic sister in rehab (Kate Hudson), laden with singing scenes that interrupt the plot sequence. 

The reviews did not prevent the film from being nominated for a Golden Globe in the Best Picture category, and Hudson also won a nomination in the acting category.

Nor was the network storm that preceded his departure, when 18,000 people signed a petition demanding that he be shelved.

The reason: the autistic girl character in the film is not played by an actress with a disability.

Sia has opened a front in front of the global autistic community.   

But "Music" is also Sia's new and ninth album.

She herself does not see it as a soundtrack, and in fact while some of the songs in it appear in the film, others were inspired by it.

So on the one hand it contains "great" cinematic songs, of the kind that can accompany movie ending titles (the theme song, for example, as well as the pathetic hit "Saved my Life"), and on the other hand, it contains lighter, bouncy and "childish" songs, Including the single "Hey Boy", the bitter and fun opening track "Together" and songs like "1 + 1" (unnecessary). 

Along the way Sia also hosts friends: "Floating Through Space" was produced by David Guetta.

In the exciting "Oblivion" the British singer and producer participates in Brinth, and credits for writing songs also go here to Doa Lipa, Pink and Jack Antonoff, who seems to have no pop album from the last two years that he did not contribute to his writing.

The whole business is helped by Jesse Shatkin, who co-wrote the huge hit "Chandelier."

Like the film, the album is a two-headed beast.

In some passages Sia sounds more mature than ever, less vociferous than her previous works.

Other tracks are simply pop songs for radio stations and dance floors.

Some are very successful, while others sound generic and it is not clear why they are here.

On the one hand, Sia's stylistic richness is revealed - Electro, Ska, RNB and EDM, and on the other hand, textually there is a repetition of oppressive New Age messages. 

And yet, bottom line, this is a tremendous singer, with sharp senses and a clear understanding of pop.

Minus three or four songs, and that could have been her best album.