Hear Me Out: Sia, 'Bird Set Free'

Sia’s latest single, “Bird Set Free,” displays the artist reaching new spaces in sound and lyrical content. Released on Nov. 3, the track is the second single off her upcoming album, “This is Acting.” While still in line with Sia’s reliable melodicism, “Bird Set Free” is a far cry from the danceable billboard beats of “Chandelier.” The energy is still there—but it takes a less overstated, more stirring form.

Like “Alive,” the first single released from her next album, this song was written in collaboration with Adele. Both songs were, in fact, originally intended for Adele’s upcoming album, “25,” but were picked up by Sia when Adele passed on them. Adele’s influence can be felt throughout the track. Crisp piano notes in the beautiful instrumental intro sound like a track off of “21.” The piano cuts off when Sia begins to sing, and a percussive backdrop keeps the tempo for the rest of the track. Sia belts the emotional ballad with reckless abandon—she is never eclipsed by electric beats. Like “Alive,” the song as a whole emphasizes Sia’s strong vocals, a choice somewhat unexpected from an artist who has recently moved further into the pop genre.

Sia is well known for her lyrical talents—she has written songs for a number of prominent artists, including Beyoncé, David Guetta, Maroon 5, and Britney Spears. That lyrical talent is manifest in “Bird Set Free.” The emotionally laden song tackles the issue of relationship abuse through the image of a captive bird, setting up a delicate central metaphor with short, choppy phrases. Building on this beginning, she creates an analogy between the imprisonment of the animal and the loss of her voice. Drawing on the raw intimacy of the song, she characterizes the victim with alternating pronouns of “I” and “we.” Sia’s distinctively full-bodied voice faintly obscures some of the words, but in the chorus she clearly repeats “I’ll shout it out like a bird set free” three times.

The title of “This is Acting,” which will be released on Jan. 29, communicates that each song was actually written for another artist. In this way, Sia movestowards a kind of self-referential pastiche—she’s practically playing Adele, but doing so with a kind of unique aplomb that separates her from her collaborator. This kind of elegant moving through styles is perhaps a foreshadow of “This is Acting.” Whether Sia’s other reclamations of her songs work as well as “Bird Set Free” remains to be seen. In any case, the amalgamation of Sia and Adele begs future collaboration from the influential pair.