On her new album, 'Some People Have Real Problems,' frequent Zero 7 collaborator Sia had a very simple, if elegant, goal. "I just wanted to make an album that was nice to listen to and it wasn't of a time," she tells Spinner from her new home in New York City. "I wanted to make an album that you could put on in any era and you wouldn't really know when it was from."

To that end, Sia enlisted the help of producer Jimmy Hogarth, who previously teamed with her on her debut, 'Colour the Small One.' Hogarth, however, had another idea in mind.

"He came and saw Zero 7 play, and then the next day, took me to breakfast," Sia recalls. "He said, 'I need you to let me make this next album for you because I feel like I made a mistake with the old one. I'd never actually seen you sing live. I get it and now we have to make an album where people feel like you're there with them.' It took guts for him to say [that]."

While Sia admits that she doesn't listen to the final album cuts, she has favorites nonetheless. "I love singing, 'You Have Been Loved' live. It's f***ing awesome. And 'Lentil' -- I love singing that live, too." Also on that list is 'Academia,' which features her old friend Beck. "'Academia' is my best, most favorite one for fun and running out of breath," she says. "It's the one I felt the most proud of cerebrally, and then I asked Beck if he would sing on it and he said yes. That made me proud because I felt like he wouldn't sing on something if he thought it was s---. That made me feel validated and credible."