Like many, I first heard of Sia when “Breathe Me” was used in the closing of the TV show ‘Six Feet Under.’ Her songs have always had a bit of quirk and edge to them – “Girl You Lost to Cocaine” and “You’ve Changed,” with the accompanying videos, show her colorful yet uniquely dark spirit. It’s great to see that as she’s been embraced by the superstars as a singer/writer (David Guetta “Titanium,” FloRida “Wild Ones”) and writer (Rihanna “Diamonds,” Ne-Yo “Let Me Love You,” Britney Spears “Perfume,” Celine Dion “Loved Me Back to Life”), her essence is still there. I mean, come on, who else could have written Nikki Williams “Kill, Fuck, Marry” and Neon Hitch “Get Over You” without seeming schizophrenic? Well with that in mind, the collaboration of Sia with Diplo (eccentric world music and EDM visionary) and The Weeknd (alternative r&b crooner) has led to the most brilliant leftfield pop single since Gotye. You can clearly identify the elements that each person brings: stuttered vocals, questioning lyrics, big singalong chorus, operatic chords, clashing overlaid vocals – yet the flow is so seamless that it feels like a supergroup creating a definitive masterpiece. Here’s hoping it becomes the massive Hunger Games soundtrack single that it deservers be. For club consumption, Steve Pitron and Max Sanna turn it into a hands in the air club anthem by using all of the elements, upping the tempo, giving it a bit of a commercial flavor, and adding a dubstep break, which might feel a bit cliched at this point but it works so perfectly that you can’t help but love it. Commercial DJs should jump on this remix immediately.
Image courtesy of Universal/Republic.
