“Chandelier” is a song by Australian singer-songwriter Sia, released on 17 March 2014 as the first single from her upcoming sixth studio album, 1000 Forms of Fear. The song was co-written by Sia and Jesse Shatkin and produced by Greg Kurstin. Its music video features dancer Maddie Ziegler and dance choreography by Ryan Heffington.
Background and development “Chandelier” is the first solo single by Sia in four years, following the release of her fifth studio album We Are Born (2010). Between We Are Born and her upcoming album, Sia “retired” and began co-writing songs for other artists, including Beyoncé (“Pretty Hurts”), Celine Dion (“Loved Me Back to Life”), Flo Rida (“Wild Ones”), David Guetta (“Titanium”), Katy Perry (“Double Rainbow”), Rihanna (“Diamonds”), and Britney Spears (“Perfume”). Sia said of the song and her collaborations with other artists: “I usually think, ‘Oh this would work for Rihanna,’ or ‘this would be a good one for Britney or Beyoncé or Katy.’ But this time I was like, ‘Uh oh, I think I just wrote a full-blown pop song for myself by accident!’” “Chandelier” stemmed from an “impromptu jam session” between Sia and Shatkin, while they worked with Greg Kurstin on the album. Shatkin recalled of the song’s genesis:
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. 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… 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.
Description “Chandelier” was released on 17 March 2014 through Monkey Puzzle Records, under exclusive license to RCA Records. MuuMuse described the song as 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”. Popjustice said the song’s chorus “ends up spiralling off in such an epic direction that it sounds, near the end, like Sia’s head is about to fly right off.”
Promotion On 13 March 2014, a ten-second excerpt of the song’s chorus was posted on YouTube and shared by external media outlets. The single became available in its entirety at 4am United Kingdom time.
Reception Gigwise said “Chandelier” shows “huge potential – with soaring vocals and aptly shimmering backing, this could be the song that springboards Sia from a behind-the-scenes genius into a superstar in her own right.” Popjustice said the song could be a contender for “Single of the Year” and agreed with Kylie Minogue’s comment about Sia, that “She’s only gone and done it again.” Christopher Rosen of The Huffington Post quipped, “‘Chandelier’ is the best Rihanna song of 2014.”
Music video The official music video for “Chandelier” was released on May 6, 2014, and features Maddie Ziegler, who was personally asked to be in the video by Sia. Maddie Ziegler is a part of the hit Lifetime show, Dance Moms. The video was directed by both Sia and Daniel Askell. The dance was choreographed by Ryan Heffington. A teaser trailer of the video was released on May 1, 2014.
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