"How are you, Sia?"
"I'm very well, thanks! It's a sunny day here in Los Angeles, California!"
If you only know Sia from her gorgeous, exhaustively dramatic song "Breathe Me" (from the gorgeous, exhaustively dramatic last scene of the "Six Feet Under" finale), this is a surprising exchange.
If you've heard her new album, however, Sia's mood makes perfect sense. "Some People Have Real Problems," the 32-year-old Australian's third CD, is as crisp and playful as its predecessor, "Colour the Small One" was hazy and somber. When told this, Sia -- née Sia Furler -- lights up.
"I'm really glad. The last one I didn't love so much. I wanted it to be more like this one," she says. "Colour the Small One" (which includes "Breathe Me") was a series of compromises, she says. Producer Jimmy Hogarth had to please her label, and the sound was slicker than originally envisioned.
"Some People," released in the United States last month, is the best record of Sia's young career. Though it has received mixed reviews -- Rolling Stone gave it two stars; Entertainment Weekly called it "stunning" -- the CD is simply the sound of an artist with confidence. There's soul, bouncy pop, a Beck cameo and (why not?) a beautiful cover of the Kinks' "I Go to Sleep."
"I wanted it to sound like I was trying to make a record that you could put in any era," says Sia, "and that wouldn't have a real particular sound to it in 30 years' time. That, I thought, would be a fun experiment." Her second goal was to "be able to actually sell a whole bunch of records, and actually make some real money out of what I like doing."
Her appearance on HBO's "Six Feet Under," in which the sultry "Breathe Me" is played over a montage revealing each character's death, gave Sia a sudden shot of clout. No one was more surprised than her.
