Sia doesn't go into great detail about it, but during the making of her last album, the alt-pop singer-songwriter was deeply depressed. The CD, 2004's Colour the Small One, received strong sales two years later, after producers of HBO's Six Feet Under used "Breathe Me," the album's haunting single, during the show's finale. That career boost and therapy helped Sia refocus her musical direction.
Long known for her atmospheric down-tempo work, which includes acclaimed collaborations with Zero 7, the Australian artist born 32 years ago as Sia Kate Isobelle Furler decided to embolden her style with more soulful belting and slightly bombastic arrangements.
"Once I was feeling better, I did a pop album and delivered it to Island Records, my label at the time. And they didn't like it. So I was dropped, and the record didn't come out," Sia says. "The thinking was that I needed to establish an identity before I put out a pop album."
On her latest album, Some People Have Real Problems, released in January by Starbucks' Hear Music label, Sia goes for a lush pop approach, overlaid with her eccentric, jazz-dipped vocals. The sound fits the musical personality of the coffeehouse/music chain. But it's a completely new direction for Sia, who headlines Washington's 9:30 Club tomorrow night.
"I did this record to keep working," says the performer, who last week was at a tour stop in Chicago. "I was having a lot of fun writing pop songs. I wanted to write and have fun and sing differently."
Since the start of her career early in the decade, Sia has garnered acclaim for her accentual crooning. Her featured vocals on projects by Massive Attack, William Orbit and Zero 7 and a few solo singles received pop chart action mostly in the United Kingdom. But she wanted to do more than sing over floaty arrangements, Sia says. She wanted to belt, something she did on stage.
"We decided to record my songs, and we recorded until we ran out of money," she says. "So that's where songs on the new album come from. I wanted it to be live. I didn't want it to sound of any era."
Sia mostly accomplished her mission. With its soaring orchestrations, the music hints at the early sides of Dionne Warwick or Dusty Springfield. But Sia's formless vocals, an acquired taste, give the streamlined songs a bit of a ragged feel. From the hushed, glacial pop of "Lullaby" to the brassy, stomping "The Girl You Lost to Cocaine," the album's moods and textures are richly varied as the lyrics center mostly on fraying relationships.
"I used to be addicted to Reader's Digest growing up," Sia says. "I would read the stories about love, and I guess that's where I became a hopeless romantic. I draw from that a lot. I just want to be a good storyteller."
The sophisticated approach of the music is thwarted by the album's cheap-looking cover. There's Sia, sporting a messy blond pageboy, and clutching three children's markers. Multicolored lines and a crude heart shape are drawn all over her face. Her lips are parted as she stares off in the distance.
"We did a lot of different photos, but I felt that one reflected more of who I am right now," Sia says. "It's been quite a talking topic. Some people don't like it. ... I didn't think too much about it, really. I thought it would be eye-catching."
Another mission accomplished. The cover grabs your attention, the music snatches your ear. This new pop direction fits well, Sia says.
"I'm always with me, so this sound is just as natural as anything I've done before," Sia says. "You never know what I'm gonna do."
rashod.ollison@baltsun.com
See Sia at the 9:30 Club, 815 V St. N.W. in Washington tomorrow at 9 p.m. Tickets are $20 and are available through tickets.com or by calling 800-955-5566.