Music: January 2008 Archives

Sia Furler would probably be the first to agree that she often wears her heart on her sleeve, and puts it out there in her music, her vulnerability being the source of her overflowing soulfulness, both vocally and lyrically.

After rising to prominence in 2001 as one of the stand-out vocalists of English hipster group Zero 7 's ever-changing lineup, Sia launched a successful solo career. Her debut full-length, Healing Is Difficult (2002), garnered rave reviews, but it was her second solo outing, 2004's Colour The Small One, that would firmly establish the Adelaide born singer/songwriter as a force to be reckoned with, the track "Breathe Me" being forever etched in the minds of many as the haunting song that played on as the cast of the HBO series Six Feet Under took their final gasps (click HERE to view).

While Sia's first two albums dealt with the turmoil in her own life, her third album, Some People Have Real Problems, released today, marks strides both musically and emotionally. Having moved from England to Los Angeles, and found a partner she cares enough about to convert to Judaism for, Sia has finally found herself on the road to happiness. The singer talked with the Daily Mantra about her introspective journey, which led her to dabble in both Buddhism and Scientology.

DM: I've noticed that throughout your solo work in some ways you've used your albums for therapy. Is the same true of this album?

Sia: Yes. Yes, it's a note to self. I'm getting a bit rich now, and I might be getting a bit famous, and I need to make sure that I don't lose touch with reality. While we complain about our bourgeois problems like bitter coffee, and things like that, there are people who don't have a mum, or legs, or rice. You know, some people have real problems.

DM: So that may be some kind of progression, because the last two solo albums...

Sia: Have been totally self-indulgent.

DM: Well not at all, because they're beautiful to listen to too, but I guess from a personal point of view this new album is up a notch on the happiness scale since you were able to take yourself out of yourself.

Sia: Yes. Although when I'm writing I don't ever think I'm writing about me. I think I'm writing a story or a notion. I've always thought it was about observation, or my friend's lives, but then sometimes I have to admit that that may have been about me at the time and I wasn't aware of it.

DM: Take me through some of the songs on the new album.

Sia: Well for me lyrically the most fun one was "Academia. "

DM: That's my favorite track.

Sia: That was so fun because that literally just vomited out. Then after I'd written it I then had to go back and do the research, make sure that the semantics were right. Really that's a song about when you're not getting your needs met in a relationship. You're not getting any love or affection, you're just getting palmed off with words. I guess it's when you're in a relationship with an intellectual, and it's just totally cerebral. There's no feeling or warmth. I think I had a bit of that experience with my stepfather because he was a judge and he was very intellectual. He wasn't very warm, and I could remember basically I was metaphorically tap dancing for him for like eight years hoping that he'd notice.

DM: And then you came to a realization that you didn't need to do that?

Sia: No. He left. He just left. I'm still tap dancing.

DM: So how long ago was that?

Sia: I was 17, and I'm 32 next week, so loads of time.

DM: But those things don't leave you.

Sia: Well you know, I think I've dealt with it. When I told you about it it didn't make me feel sick in the guts.

DM: It just made you write a great song.

Sia: Yes. You can't throw a dictionary at someone when they need a hug.

DM: Aside from "I Go To Sleep," which is cover of a song made famous by The Pretenders, are all songs on the album written by you?

Sia: Me and other people, because I don't write by myself. I'm no good at it. I'm not disciplined. Someone else has to be in the room, just to get it going.

DM: Like having an appointment at the doctors so you'll go.

Sia: Yes. Like we start at midday and finish at six. And with some people a song can take less than twenty minutes to be done. It's like channeling.

DM: So you say it's like channeling, where do you think it comes from?

Sia: I don't know. I don't ask.

DM: Do you have any kind of belief system?

Sia: I guess I think more than anything I believe in creating your own reality. But I've dabbled in loads of things, Buddhism, Scientology. I'm trying out Judaism now because I'm dating a Jew. I'll leave no stone unturned, sometimes I like boys, sometimes I like girls. I'm not one to let belief or gender get in the way of a good conversation.

DM: So what would you say you've taken from Buddhism?

Sia: I guess the peace element. You can't control anything so you have to learn to be able to experience everything, and just breathe through it.

DM: And the same question for Scientology?

Sia: I think a lot of it is very similar, like that whole 'only do things to other people that you think you would be able to experience easily yourself.' They're also heavy on the communication, on telling the truth and being above board, and really being as direct as you can be. And the main thing, which is their greatest teaching, is not suppressing anything, saying everything, getting it off your chest. That's what auditing is about. It's about someone listening to you without judgment. They just listen as you get everything you've ever had any shame about off your chest.

DM: And Judaism?

Sia: So far I don't know much about Judaism. I'm really just learning some of the Yiddish. I've yet to delve into that. All I know is I have to do the study otherwise apparently the mum won't like me.

DM: See, you've already got the Jewish guilt down. I think you're already 75% there.

Sia: Totally.