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This Is Acting

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.[3]

This Is Acting

29 January 2016

  • Echo Studio, Los Angeles, California
  • Harmony Recording Studios, Los Angeles, California
  • Hot Closet Studios, Los Angeles, California
  • Kingslanding Studios, Hamptons, New York City
  • Magical Thinking Studios, Los Angeles, California
  • The Rib Cage, Los Angeles, California
  • Wizard Tone Studios, Adelaide, South Australia

46:32

  • Monkey Puzzle
  • RCA

"Alive", the album's lead single, was released on 24 September 2015. The second single, "Cheap Thrills", was released on 11 February 2016. It reached the top 5 in a number of markets and marked Sia's first number one on the US Billboard Hot 100.[4] A remix of the track featuring guest vocals from Sean Paul was also released. A deluxe edition of This Is Acting was released on 21 October 2016 featuring seven new tracks, including solo and Kendrick Lamar-assisted versions of the single "The Greatest". The album's fourth and final 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.

Background and development[edit]

This Is Acting is the follow-up to Sia's sixth studio album 1000 Forms of Fear, released in 2014. In December 2014, Sia told Spin that she had "two [more records] completed and ready to go".[5] 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.[6][7] She also revealed that the success of 1000 Forms of Fear, specifically its lead single "Chandelier",[8] 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."[9][10] The album's cover art features Sia's face digitally altered.[11] Shortly after Sia's announcement, Out published a list of her "10 Greatest Hits for Other Artists" in anticipation of the album.[12]

Commercial performance[edit]

This Is Acting debuted atop the ARIA Albums Chart in Australia, and received a gold certification for sales of over 35,000 copies. It debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 81,000 album equivalent units (68,000 in pure album sales), which became Sia's highest sales week in the country.[54] As of 1 January 2017, the album has sold 299,600 copies and 904,000 total equivalent units in the United States.[55]


In its 26th week on Billboard 200, the album vaulted back into the top 10 for the first time since its debut week, as it rose 11–6 with 30,000 units, supported by the success of the second single "Cheap Thrills", which reached the summit of the Billboard Hot 100 at the time.[56]


In its 39th week, it vaulted 18–11 due to the deluxe edition of the album being released, and became the greatest gainer of the week. Also, during this week, the lead single off the deluxe edition, "The Greatest", rose 25–19.

signifies an additional producer

^a

signifies a vocal producer

^b

signifies a remixer

^c

Notes


Sample credits

– vocals, executive producer, all photos, art direction, design, font creator

Sia

Cameron Deyell – guitar (12), bass guitar (12), keyboards (12)

– piano (2)

Tobias Jesso Jr.

– bass guitar (1, 4, 6, 10), drums (1, 4, 6, 10), keyboards (1, 4, 6, 10), mellotron (1), piano (1), guitar (6, 10)

Greg Kurstin

Garrett Ray – drums (2)

Erick Serna – guitar (2, 8–9)

– bass guitar (2–3, 5, 8, 11), piano (2–3, 5, 7–8), synthesizer (2, 8, 11), guitar (2–3), percussion (2), drums (3, 5, 7–9, 11), keyboards (3, 5, 9)

Jesse Shatkin

Jake Sinclair – percussion (8), tambourine (8), piano (8)

– drums (9), bass (9), piano (9)

T-Minus

Josh Valle – guitar (9)

Chris Wrays – keyboards (7), guitar (7)

Production

List of 2016 albums

List of number-one albums of 2016 (Australia)

List of number-one albums of 2016 (Norway)

List of UK top-ten albums in 2016