We Are Born

Aussie singer Sia got famous cooing moody tracks for Zero 7 and Six Feet Under, but there's a perky dance diva trapped behind her blond bob. On her first album of uptempo numbers, the 34-year-old combines disco funk with the throwback soul of U.K. crooners like Adele. Her secret weapon: Strokes guitarist Nick Valensi, whose chugging riffs and loopy lines give her boogie-woogie real teeth. "Bring Night" bops like an Eighties rave-up, and Sia finds the sweetness in Madonna's "Oh Father," brightening it into an airy, blippy closer.