To Sia, is to Believa

I recently received a packet from Universal Records including a variety of their established and newer artists. I was immediately hesitant of even looking at these CDs as I’m not one to coddle the industry juggernauts, but on the other hand, I’m also open to giving anything it’s fair try before writing it off. It’s kind of nice going into something without (or with low) expectations as it seems to leave the door open for newness without the initial comparisons and critiques. As I played through the disks I found myself surprisingly entertained and revisiting a couple of them.

The first album I was drawn to was the newest release from Sia, Some People Have Real Problems. You might recognize Sia from her 2004 single Breathe Me that was featured on the TV series Six Feet Under and also made it into heavy rotation on KEXP in numerous remixed versions by Four Tet, Ulrich Schnauss, Mylo and Mr. Dan. I hadn’t listened to any of Sia’s other albums since then, so hearing her voice again was familiar and soothing. This album – and for the most part, Sia herself – is presented in a lighthearted, childish way with obvious stick figure drawings representing all of the songs. (I.E. a chocolate bar with a scowl and a gun for the song Death by Chocolate.) On the cover, Sia sings into a make-believe microphone of markers with which she’s apparently doodled on herself with innocent abandon. Given this, I was expecting some teen pop music I would easily dismiss rather than the smokey, crackling vocals that came through sounding like the coals of a low ebbing fire. The high point of the album for me is her sultry cover of I Go To Sleep, by the Kinks and later made popular by the Pretenders. It is in this already great song where Sia’s vocal talents are free to express the song  rather than strain to establish it.
Sia will be in town, playing the Showbox MKT, Thursday, Feb 21st.  For a sneak peek, you can check out these links for the single Electric Bird and the video for Buttons.

The other surprise in the package I received was a single by the emerging artist Duffy who is apparently NOT so “emerging” in England where she is selling out shows left, right and center (or is that centre). Sounding much more like Amy Weinhouse than the Mickey Mouse pop I was expecting, with a name like Duffy. I have high hopes for the upcoming release Rockferry due out March 3. Check out the video for the single Mercy here.