Australian singer and songwriter Sia is back with another stunning music video for her new single ‘Elastic Heart’, featuring some very familiar faces, and is facing an unfortunate backlash over interpretations of its message..
Sia’s 2014 hit single ‘Chandelier’ received four Grammy nominations and amassed a whopping 434,113,000 YouTube views. ‘Elastic Heart’ looks like it could do similar damage. Directed by by Sia and Daniel Askill, the video is a visual sequel to ‘Chandelier’ and features Shia LaBeouf and Maddie Ziegler performing a dance sequence trapped inside a giant birdcage.
The second single from Sia’s Aria-winning album 1000 Forms Of Fear and a feature on 2013’s Hunger Games: Catching Fire Soundtrack, ‘Elastic Heart’ will be performed live on Saturday Night Live next week in a rare appearance by the Australian and will also feature a Ziegler as a co-performer on the show.
The new single’s YouTube release has already racked up a couple of million hits after premiering on Wednesday and could venture into ‘Chandelier’ territory after the video’s dance performance and skin suits worn by LaBeouf and 12-year-old Ziegler triggered outcries for its perceived paedophilia connotations.
Sia took to Twitter to apologize to those who mistook the artistic representations in the video.
“All I can say is Maddie and Shia are two of the only actors I felt could play these two warring ‘sia’ self states.”
“I apologize to those who feel triggered by #ElasticHeart” she added. “My intention was to create some emotional content, not to upset anybody.”
