Hear Sia’s Bouncy Party Anthem ‘Cheap Thrills’
Sia has released another new single off her upcoming album This Is Acting, which is due out next month. “Cheap Thrills” was originally intended for Rihanna, as the pop songwriter revealed recently to Rolling Stone.
Sia cowrote the track with frequent collaborator Greg Kurstin, who also produced the song. Above a bouncy, tropical beat, Sia sings an ode to frugal spending habits and simple nights out. “Baby I don’t need dollar bills to have fun tonight,” she sings on the chorus. “I love cheap thrills.”
The track is one of at least two tunes originally intended for Rihanna’s still unreleased eighth album, Anti; most of Sia’s This Is Acting tracks were written for other artists. The singer recalled being requested by Rihanna’s manager who was looking for something similar to the massive Sia-penned Rihanna single “Diamonds.” “I realized just as soon as I was cutting it that it sounded a little bit too Brit-pop for her,” the songwriter told Rolling Stone. “There’s something really uplifting about [the song] that put me in a good mood. … It felt very ‘summer’ and fun.”
In a more recent interview with BBC Radio 2’s Jo Whiley, Sia indicated that she had met with Rihanna about songs for Anti as recently as last week. “The other night she came over and listened to half of 25 songs I played for her because she’s still looking for songs for her new album,” she revealed (via Billboard). “She was there to listen to songs and see if there was anything that she was into. It was a business meeting for sure. She took four but I don’t know if they’ll end up [on the album].”