Review: Cheap Thrills (Sia ft. Sean Paul)

For my first review, I wanted to get a good look at the Billboard Hot 100. After ten weeks of Drake's immensely mediocre "One Dance" reigning at the top, a new number one has been crowned. I was immensely happy, not because the new number one was of a song I liked, but because One Dance was finally showing signs of weakness. If you haven't guessed from the title, that song is Cheap Thrills by Australian singer-songwriter Sia Furler, with guest verses from Jamaican singer Sean Paul.

This song is rather notable for a number of reasons. For one, it's Sia's first number one as a solo artist, and second as writer (she wrote Rihanna's Diamonds, which reached number one back in late 2012). Funnily enough, this song was also written for Rihanna, but she decided not to record it. The Sean Paul verses are also important in that it's his first number one in ten years (his last one was Temperature, from his The Trinity album).

As for the song itself, you may be thinking to yourself "What are you talking about? Sean Paul doesn't have any verses on this song!" To tell the truth, I've been referring to the official remix this entire time. The original just features Sia without Sean Paul, and to be honest, I'd say both versions are on par with each other. It really depends on whether you like your pop straight-up or with a bit of reggae influence.

 

 (note: dancer in video not actually Sia)

Now, onto the song itself. This song invokes one basic idea: You are broke as hell and you don't care  because goddamn it, you just want to have fun. It's a premise that's been done before, I admit, but you've got to retread sometimes. I'd even argue that it's on par with Thrift Shop, the song most people think of when they hear "song about being cheap." A lot of that has to do with Sia's vocal delivery, as well as the lyrics.

I don't know if I'm the only one, but Sia's singing voice is like pure ear candy to me. I look forward to hearing her about as much as I do Anthony Kiedis on an RHCP album. And while I'll admit I haven't liked everything Sia's done (example being her appearance on David Guetta's Titanium, if only for how boring it was), she's still one of the better pop artists out there right now. Like how her delivery perfectly conveyed the absolute angst of Chandelier, she makes a song that normally feels like a Rihanna song work perfectly for herself. Sean Paul is also a welcome presence, giving us something fun, energetic and authentic to separate it from the wannabe dancehall and downbeat snore factories that have dominated the number one spot since February with the likes of Pillowtalk and Work.

Lyrically, the song is as simple as the above synopsis suggests. Sia's getting ready to hang out with someone, dance, and have a good time. Though we don't know where she is, we can tell that she's rather excited for this get-together. She's doing her hair, she's putting on make-up, she's wearing high-heels. And what is she going to do? She's going to dance. She's going to dance, she's going to enjoy the music, she is going to have a fun time. You can't stop her, she's having this awesome time without a single dollar spent because she's cheap, and she loves cheap thrills.

So overall, Cheap Thrills is great. Besides some questionable production choices in a few spots, there's not much wrong here. It's definitely a stand-out from This is Acting, the album this was off of. I'm going to have to give the song an 8.5/10, again, great song, fun beat, give it a listen, give the whole album a listen, there are good times to be had.

Introduction

Hello. I am Lukas, and I welcome you to Hearken to Silence.  So, what do I do?

I am a pop music enthusiast. I follow Billboard weekly, listen to the radio on a regular basis to get a good idea of what's hip and upcoming, the works. I will be writing reviews and articles about what's big right now, according to the Billboard Hot 100. There will also be reviews of older material as well as whatever I may find. It will mostly be single reviews, but expect the occasional album review as well.

Music isn't all I'm about, however. I'm also a video game enthusiast, specifically PC. Team Fortress 2, Overwatch, and League of Legends are my most played right now. You may also see stuff relating to television and movies, albeit rarely. So, yeah, I've got a ton going for me.Enjoy your stay.