With Greg [Kurstin] at the helm of Sia’s upcoming record, Jesse [Shatkin] spent plenty of time in the studio with the industry’s most in-demand songwriter. Together, the three artists worked to craft the singer’s new album. But the record’s soaring lead single, “Chandelier,” came as the result of an impromptu jam session between Sia and Jesse.
“At some point, Greg had to run out, and me and Sia were in his live room with his piano and drum set and just kind of jammed for a second,” he recalls. “Greg has a marimba, so I was playing marimba — some weird notes — and Sia was playing the piano. She records everything on her phone, so we just kind of figured out a chord progression together. She sent it to me on a voice note, and I turned it into a track. She already had the melody instinctively while she was writing the chords. We were real excited that she wanted to do this for her record, and then Greg added his production. I was really proud of it.”
The result is one of Sia’s most full-bodied productions to date, equipped with a striding beat and something that sounds less like a traditional pop chorus than an explosive, off-the-walls exercise in vocal acrobatics that only Sia could ever pull off. “It was one of the first things that I did with her. She’s just a phenomenal, mind-blowing talent and I was just so excited about it. And for it to be a single is crazy — a dream come true,” he adds.
I'll check her out
