This Is Acting


 * "Go on and take a bow" — Rihanna

This Is Acting is the seventh studio album by Sia Furler, released under the mononym Sia, on 29 January 2016. Most of the songs on the album were written by Sia for other artists that rejected them, and Sia eventually recorded them herself.

Background
In December 2014, Sia told SPIN that she had "two [more records] completed and ready to go" and wanted "2015 to look like it's been fucked." She first revealed the details of the album in an interview with NME published in February 2015. She confirmed that the album was already finished and "more pop" than any of her previous works. She also revealed that the success of her previous album, specifically its lead single "Chandelier", encouraged her to continue releasing new material. Sia also explained to NME the title of the album:

Release and promotion
During an online chat with fans in April 2015, Sia revealed that the album would "probably" be released in early 2016, but possibly before the end of 2015. In September 2015, Sia confirmed the album's lead single, "Alive", would be released later that month and was originally written for Adele; the British singer and songwriter co-wrote but "rejected" the song at the last minute. The album's release date, 29 January 2016, was confirmed in early November 2015.

"Bird Set Free" was released as the first promotional single along with the pre-order of the album on November 4, 2015. The song was originally written for the film Pitch Perfect 2, but was rejected in favor of "Flashlight". The song was then pitched to Rihanna. After being rejected, it was recorded by Adele but did not make the cut for her third studio album, 25. "One Million Bullets" was released as the second promotional single on November 27, 2015. The song is the only one on the album that was not written for another artist. "Cheap Thrills" was announced as the album's third promotional release and was released on December 16, 2015. The song was another track rejected by Rihanna who, as Sia described, never came to the recording sessions. "Reaper" was released as the fourth promotional single on January 7, 2016. The song was written by Sia and Kanye West for Rihanna, but Sia decided to keep it. "Unstoppable" was released as the fifth and final promotional single on January 21, 2016. Jessie Morris of Complex commented that the song sounds like a "page torn right out of Demi Lovato's Confident book", while editors of other media platforms like Idolator noticed this as well, which raised speculation that the track was intentionally written for Lovato.

Sia performed "Alive" and "Bird Set Free" on the 7 November 2015 episode of Saturday Night Live, which was hosted by Donald Trump. She also performed "Alive" on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and The Voice on 1 December, followed by "Alive"'s presentation on The X Factor in the United Kingdom on 6 December. Sia appeared on The Graham Norton Show on 11 December, where she again sang this song and it was revealed that she had considered wearing a prosthetic mask instead of a wig. Sia performed "Cheap Thrills" on 27 January 2016 on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Deluxe edition
On 29 September, Team Sia announced that Sia would be releasing This is Acting Deluxe, on 21 October. This deluxe version would feature "The Greatest" (with and without Kendrick Lamar) and three unreleased tracks, "Confetti", "Midnight Decisions" and "Jesus Wept". The deluxe edition also features "Move Your Body" remixed by Alan Walker.

Critical reception
This Is Acting received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 67, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 29 reviews. The A.V. Club gave the album a favourable review, stating that "There's a clear theme here, and it's emancipation—from fear, from doubt, and most of all, from feeling as though she wasn't meant to be a star. Gone is the uncertainty that still clung to many of her earlier efforts at mainstream pop hits of her own; success has granted her the confidence to dive into the deep end of the mainstream music pool, and the results are potent." Jon Pareles from The New York Times gave the album a mixed review, writing "In “Alive,” as she repeats “I'm still breathing!” in the chorus, she makes her voice break a different way each time she sings it. But Sia’s success as a hitmaker has also turned into a pitfall. Even as she and her producers flaunt their layered vocals and whiz-bang sound effects, there are already so many of Sia’s midtempo victim-to-victory anthems around that they offer diminishing returns, particularly when listened to as an album."

Track listing
This Is Acting — Standard edition