Footprints (Sia song)This Is Acting is the seventh studio album by Australian singer and songwriter Sia. It was released on 29 January 2016 by Inertia, Monkey Puzzle and RCA Records. The album is mostly composed of songs written by Sia for other pop artists that were not included on their albums. Sia described songwriting for others as "play-acting," hence the title This Is Acting.
"Alive", the album's lead single, was released on 24 September 2015. The second single, "Cheap Thrills", was released on 11 February 2016, becoming a top 5 in a number of markets and marking her first number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. The remix of the track featured guest vocals from Sean Paul. A deluxe edition of This Is Acting was released on 21 October 2016 featuring seven new tracks, including the single remix of "Cheap Thrills" and the solo and Kendrick Lamar-assisted versions of "The Greatest". The fourth single, "Move Your Body" was released on 6 January 2017.
The album received generally positive reviews from music critics, who complimented Sia's vocals and deemed it a concept album. However, some criticized the impersonal and indirect nature of the songs. The album debuted at number one in Australia, and also reached number four on the US Billboard 200, selling 81,000 album equivalent units in its first week—of which 68,000 were from pure album sales, becoming Sia's highest first week sales in the country. To further promote the album, Sia embarked on the accompanying Nostalgic for the Present Tour in September 2016. This Is Acting was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album.
This Is Acting is Sia's follow-up to her sixth studio album 1000 Forms of Fear (2014). In December 2014, Sia told Spin that she had "two [more records] completed and ready to go". She revealed details of This Is Acting for the first time in an interview published by NME in February 2015. In the article, she confirmed once again that work on the album was finished and that its content was "more pop" than her previous material. She also revealed that the success of 1000 Forms of Fear, specifically its lead single "Chandelier", encouraged her to continue releasing new material, and said of the album's title: "I'm calling it This Is Acting because they are songs I was writing for other people, so I didn't go in thinking 'this is something I would say'. It's more like play-acting. It's fun." The album's cover art features Sia's face digitally altered. Shortly after Sia's announcement, Out published a list of her "10 Greatest Hits for Other Artists" in anticipation of the album.
...
Wikipedia
