# This Is Acting
**This Is Acting** is the seventh studio album by the Australian singer and songwriter Sia, released on January 29, 2016 by [RCA Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/rca-records) and Monkey Puzzle Records. Its twelve standard-edition songs were written by Sia for other pop artists, including Adele, Rihanna, and Beyoncé, and were rejected or passed over before she recorded them herself, a premise the title refers to directly.[1](https://pitchfork.com/news/61362-sia-reveals-this-is-acting-release-date-cover-art/) • [2](https://musicbrainz.org/release-group/2eb49f55-ad2a-43fa-a54f-90d0759d7f62) • [3](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jan/31/sia-this-is-acting-review-favourite-rejects-beyonce-rihanna-adele)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Artist and album | Seventh studio album by Sia (Sia Furler), released January 29, 2016[1](https://pitchfork.com/news/61362-sia-reveals-this-is-acting-release-date-cover-art/) • [4](https://www.sonymusic.co.uk/sia-releases-this-is-acting/) |
| Labels | Monkey Puzzle Records and RCA Records[2](https://musicbrainz.org/release-group/2eb49f55-ad2a-43fa-a54f-90d0759d7f62) |
| Concept | Composed of songs Sia wrote for other pop artists, including Adele, Rihanna, and Beyoncé, that were not included on their albums[2](https://musicbrainz.org/release-group/2eb49f55-ad2a-43fa-a54f-90d0759d7f62) |
| Lead single | "Alive," co-written with Adele and Tobias Jesso Jr., originally intended for Adele's album 25[1](https://pitchfork.com/news/61362-sia-reveals-this-is-acting-release-date-cover-art/) |
| Chart and sales | Reached No. 16 on the Billboard 200; certified 1x Platinum by the RIAA on December 12, 2016[5](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2016/Billboard-2016-04-16-Double.pdf) • [6](https://bestsellingalbums.org/album/41527) |
| Deluxe edition | Released October 21, 2016 with seven new tracks, including solo and Kendrick Lamar-assisted versions of "The Greatest"[2](https://musicbrainz.org/release-group/2eb49f55-ad2a-43fa-a54f-90d0759d7f62) |
| 10th anniversary edition | Released January 29, 2026 with 24 tracks, adding "Fist Fighting A Sandstorm," "Summer Rain," live and remix versions[7](https://sia.lnk.to/thisisacting10thanni) |
## Background and concept
By the mid-2010s Sia was one of pop music's most in-demand songwriters, with credits for Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Katy Perry, and Rihanna, while performing rarely and obscuring her face with wigs in public.[8](https://time.com/4209769/sia-best-songs-written-for-other-artists-ranked/) After breaking through as a solo artist when her ballad "Breathe Me" closed the finale of HBO's *Six Feet Under* in 2005, she had stepped back from her own career around 2010 and turned to writing for others; her 2014 album *[1000 Forms of Fear](https://www.edgepedia.org/1000-forms-of-fear)* and its single "Chandelier" then made her a global pop star in her own right.[9](https://time.com/4197772/sia-this-is-acting-review/)
The songs gathered on *This Is Acting* came from that songwriting work. In an interview with Beats 1's [Zane Lowe](https://www.edgepedia.org/zane-lowe), Sia said the album contained songs written for Beyoncé and Rihanna, among others.[1](https://pitchfork.com/news/61362-sia-reveals-this-is-acting-release-date-cover-art/) She described the process as "more like play-acting," writing from the perspective of an intended performer rather than herself.[1](https://pitchfork.com/news/61362-sia-reveals-this-is-acting-release-date-cover-art/) One song, "Bird Set Free," was turned down by both Adele and Rihanna before Sia recorded it.[9](https://time.com/4197772/sia-this-is-acting-review/) The Guardian's review noted the scale of rejection behind the record: at a 2013 songwriting session for Beyoncé's album in the Hamptons, Sia wrote 25 songs of which only "Pretty Hurts" made the cut, and "Footprints" on this album was among the surplus.[3](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jan/31/sia-this-is-acting-review-favourite-rejects-beyonce-rihanna-adele)
## Songs
The album opens with the two songs Sia had hoped to place on Adele's *25*: "Bird Set Free" and "Alive."[10](https://bad-world.co.uk/products/sia) "Alive," the lead single, was co-written with Adele and Tobias Jesso Jr. and discarded from Adele's album before Sia kept it.[1](https://pitchfork.com/news/61362-sia-reveals-this-is-acting-release-date-cover-art/) "Reaper," a co-write with [Kanye West](https://www.edgepedia.org/kanye-west), was intended for Rihanna; Time's review described it as liberating Sia from the tropes of a typical "Sia song," floating above church organs and a playful bass line.[9](https://time.com/4197772/sia-this-is-acting-review/) "Cheap Thrills," another track written with Rihanna in mind, was judged by Sia herself as sounding "a little bit too Brit-pop for her," more [Icona Pop](https://www.edgepedia.org/icona-pop) than Rihanna.[11](https://time.com/4195618/new-rihanna-song-work-other-artists/)
One song breaks the pattern: "One Million Bullets" is the lone track Sia wrote for herself on the album, returning to the more intimate songwriting of her pre-pop career.[12](https://www.allmusic.com/album/this-is-acting-mw0002894912) Other tracks carry their intended clients' fingerprints: "Move Your Body" was widely heard as written for Rihanna, and "Sweet Design," which samples "Thong Song," was written for Beyoncé.[13](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/44465-sia-this-is-acting.php)
The deluxe edition added seven tracks on October 21, 2016, including "The Greatest" in both a solo version and one featuring [Kendrick Lamar](https://www.edgepedia.org/kendrick-lamar).[2](https://musicbrainz.org/release-group/2eb49f55-ad2a-43fa-a54f-90d0759d7f62) A later single version of "Cheap Thrills" featured [Sean Paul](https://www.edgepedia.org/sean-paul).[7](https://sia.lnk.to/thisisacting10thanni)
## Commercial performance
The album reached No. 16 on the Billboard 200 in the week of April 16, 2016, when "Cheap Thrills" also entered the Hot 100 top 40.[5](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2016/Billboard-2016-04-16-Double.pdf) The Recording Industry Association of America certified the album Platinum, representing 1,000,000 units, on December 12, 2016.[6](https://bestsellingalbums.org/album/41527) In Australia it was certified Gold for 35,000 units in 2016.[14](https://chartmasters.org/album/sia/this-is-acting/) "Cheap Thrills" became one of the album's defining hits, and "Unstoppable" later found a sustained second life as a viral track.[15](https://vinyl.sonymusic.com/products/sia-this-is-acting-d2c-exclusive-2lp)
## Critical reception
Reviews generally treated the album as a showcase for Sia's songwriting craft that fell short of her best personal work. The Guardian gave it three out of five stars, calling it "mass-appeal pop with a manic edge" and noting that it "makes plain the fact of manufacture."[3](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jan/31/sia-this-is-acting-review-favourite-rejects-beyonce-rihanna-adele) A second Guardian review praised the pitiless effectiveness of the hooks while observing that the formula of dejected verses resolving into strident choruses of stoic empowerment risked becoming formulaic.[16](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jan/28/sia-this-is-acting-review-pop-hitmaker-pushes-her-winning-formula-to-its-limits) Pitchfork's Cameron Cook wrote that the album "doesn't necessarily sound like a slapdash collection of demos or B-sides" and credited Sia's voice with revitalizing even formulaic numbers, while finding that the sacrifice was the personal flair that gave *1000 Forms of Fear* its spark.[17](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21481-this-is-acting/) The Independent's review argued the record was "so much more than just off-cuts" and that its songs made the listener wish Sia had kept every one for herself.[18](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/sia-this-is-acting-review-a-thrillingly-intimate-album-thats-so-much-more-than-just-offcuts-a6836636.html) Time's reviewer framed the album as Sia "finding treasure in other stars' trash," noting that she admitted in interviews to having little emotional attachment to many of the songs.[9](https://time.com/4197772/sia-this-is-acting-review/)
## 10th anniversary edition
On January 29, 2026, ten years after the original release, Sia issued *This Is Acting (10th Anniversary Edition)*, a 24-track set that added two previously unavailable songs to streaming, "Fist Fighting A Sandstorm" and "Summer Rain," alongside live and remix versions including "Bird Set Free (Live from The Village)," an "Alive" remix by Plastic Plates, a "Move Your Body" remix by [Alan Walker](https://www.edgepedia.org/alan-walker), and an "Unstoppable" remix by R3HAB.[7](https://sia.lnk.to/thisisacting10thanni) • [19](https://milled.com/sia/this-is-acting-10th-anniversary-edition-out-now-wblM5mmpe_qrh4lT) A limited-edition black and white split 2LP vinyl was released through [Sony Music](https://www.edgepedia.org/sony-music) and retail partners.[15](https://vinyl.sonymusic.com/products/sia-this-is-acting-d2c-exclusive-2lp) • [10](https://bad-world.co.uk/products/sia)
## References
1. [Sia Reveals This Is Acting Release Date, Cover Art, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/news/61362-sia-reveals-this-is-acting-release-date-cover-art/)
2. [Release group "This Is Acting" by Sia, MusicBrainz](https://musicbrainz.org/release-group/2eb49f55-ad2a-43fa-a54f-90d0759d7f62)
3. [Sia: This Is Acting review – mass-appeal pop with a manic edge, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jan/31/sia-this-is-acting-review-favourite-rejects-beyonce-rihanna-adele)
4. [Sia releases 'This is Acting', Sony Music UK](https://www.sonymusic.co.uk/sia-releases-this-is-acting/)
5. [Billboard 200, issue dated April 16, 2016, WorldRadioHistory](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2016/Billboard-2016-04-16-Double.pdf)
6. [THIS IS ACTING by SIA – Sales & Charts, Best Selling Albums](https://bestsellingalbums.org/album/41527)
7. [Sia – This Is Acting (10th Anniversary Edition)](https://sia.lnk.to/thisisacting10thanni)
8. [All 73 Songs Sia Has Written for Other Artists, Ranked, Time](https://time.com/4209769/sia-best-songs-written-for-other-artists-ranked/)
9. [Review: Sia Finds Treasure in Other Stars' Trash on This Is Acting, Time](https://time.com/4197772/sia-this-is-acting-review/)
10. [This Is Acting – Bad World](https://bad-world.co.uk/products/sia)
11. [6 Songs You Wish Were the New Rihanna Single, Time](https://time.com/4195618/new-rihanna-song-work-other-artists/)
12. [Sia: This Is Acting Tracks & Reviews, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/this-is-acting-mw0002894912)
13. [Sia – This Is Acting, Album of The Year](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/44465-sia-this-is-acting.php)
14. [This Is Acting by Sia – Sales & Streaming Stats, ChartMasters](https://chartmasters.org/album/sia/this-is-acting/)
15. [SIA – This Is Acting (D2C Exclusive) 2LP, Sony Music Vinyl](https://vinyl.sonymusic.com/products/sia-this-is-acting-d2c-exclusive-2lp)
16. [Sia: This Is Acting review – pop hitmaker pushes her winning formula to its limits, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jan/28/sia-this-is-acting-review-pop-hitmaker-pushes-her-winning-formula-to-its-limits)
17. [Sia: This Is Acting Album Review, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21481-this-is-acting/)
18. [Sia, This is Acting review: a thrillingly intimate album that's so much more than just off-cuts, The Independent](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/sia-this-is-acting-review-a-thrillingly-intimate-album-thats-so-much-more-than-just-offcuts-a6836636.html)
19. [This Is Acting (10th Anniversary Edition) Out Now, Milled (Team Sia email)](https://milled.com/sia/this-is-acting-10th-anniversary-edition-out-now-wblM5mmpe_qrh4lT)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › Studio albums › Pop albums › 2010s albums › Fourth and later albums*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license