David Guetta Teams Up With Sia On New Single ‘Flames’
David Guetta and Sia are the “Titanium” team. Following the success they had with their prior release, Grammy-winning DJ, David Guetta has teamed up with Sia once again for their release of “Flames.”
Worth pointing out that “Flames” is actually their fourth collaboration together, not just a one-off victory lap off the back of “Titanium.” The two first linked up on 2011’s “Titanium,” which turned into one of the defining dance-pop records of the decade, and they’ve crossed paths a couple more times since then, including on “Bang My Head.” At this point Guetta and Sia clearly have a working formula that keeps delivering, and “Flames” is them leaning back into it.
With Ultra Music Festival 2018 right around the corner, David Guetta plans to perform the “funky” new dance track with its “big pop melody” in front of thousands of people.
“[Sia] sent me a simple song that was just a piano and her voice,” Guetta says. “Everything she writes I love. To me, her voice is so incredible. I love the message of this record. But every time I work on a new song, I try to listen to it the way I used to as [a] kid. I want people to feel a certain emotion . . . even if they don’t understand the lyrics.”
That quote pretty much sums up why this partnership keeps working — Sia hands Guetta a stripped-down, emotionally direct starting point, and he builds it out into something built for a Mainstage crowd without losing the core of what made the demo hit in the first place. It’s a formula a lot of producers try to copy and very few pull off as consistently as these two have.
Given the timing right before Miami Music Week, don’t be surprised if “Flames” ends up soundtracking half the pool parties and Mainstage sets going into Ultra weekend. Guetta has never been shy about previewing new material live, so if you’re heading down to Miami, keep an ear out.
It’s also a nice reminder that Guetta, who’s been a headline name in this scene since long before “EDM” was even a mainstream term, still knows how to pick collaborators that push him rather than just coast on his name recognition. Sia’s songwriting has that same effect on basically everyone she works with, whether it’s Guetta, Zedd, or her own solo material — she hands over a song that already has real emotional weight, and it’s on the producer to build a track around that without flattening it into generic festival filler. “Flames” sounds like it’s clearing that bar.
David Guetta & Sia – Flames
