This Is Acting by Sia

This Is Acting, Sia's seventh studio album, arrived on 29 January 2016 through Inertia, Monkey Puzzle and RCA, and it comes with a sly conceit: most of these songs were written for other pop stars and never made it onto their records. Sia likened writing for others to playing a role, and the title owns up to it. Greg Kurstin, Jesse Shatkin, Chris Braide, Noah Goldstein and T-Minus share production.

That means big, muscular pop built for someone else's voice, then belted home by Sia's own. "Alive" came first, and "Cheap Thrills" gave her a first number one on the Billboard Hot 100, with a Sean Paul remix riding along. Critics praised the singing and heard a concept album, though some found the songs impersonal. It debuted at number one in Australia, reached number four in the US, and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album; a deluxe edition added seven new tracks, among them a version of "The Greatest" with Kendrick Lamar.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.