Sia has a lengthy, winding history which has peaked with her video for ‘Buttons’ becoming the second most watched music video of all time on YouTube. With that platform, Some People Have Real Problems has been unleashed on the world. It sees many of her more jagged edges ironed smooth, but moments of quirky individuality are still able to sneak out here and there.
The album opens with a series of mid-paced jazz pop. It’s all well recorded but doesn’t have any real individual character, outside of Sia’s voice (more on that later). The tracks sound like the background for pivotal ‘serious’ moments in generic Hollywood romantic comedies, which may be the target, but don’t make for a hugely engaging listen. It’s not until 5th track in – ‘The Girl You Lost To Cocaine’ – that something truly catching jumps out. With drums in the room beside you and a Chrissy Hynde swagger, the song sounds like a good version of piano driven 70s AM pop. It’s followed by the Beck collaboration of ‘Academia’ and these two tracks become the centre-pieces and album highlights. “You can be my alphabet and I can be your calculator/and together we’ll work out on the escalator/I will time you as you run up and down/and you’ll measure my footsteps as I blow through this town” bring the lyrical content away from the more typical conceits of much of the rest of the material. The album rounds out back in jazz-pop territory, some memorable melodies, such as in ‘Soon We’ll Be Found’ or ‘Electric Bird’ being slightly lost amongst unimaginative production. The aforementioned ‘Buttons’ is included as a hidden, unlisted bonus track, and it really shows how great Sia can be when she gives her lyrical and melodic skills freer reign.
Aside from an over-reliance on light, mid-tempo moods, my biggest problem with the album is Sia’s actual singing, although I can also see how it might be considered a highlight to the ears of others. For me, her delivery is far to affected, drawling through words and deliberately obfuscating many of the lyrics (yep – obfuscating – it’s a perfect word here as it is what it describes!). It is an individual sound, however, just one that happens to annoy me at times.
I couldn’t declare this a bad album. Musically, it can tend towards blandness, but is always played and recorded well. Sia knows her craft and uses that knowledge. But it struggles to transcend craft. There are a handful of highlights which really prove that Sia is capable of approaching sublime brilliance. I’d love to hear her giving in to more of those moments.
Adrian Elmer
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