Just days after the premiere of one of the most disgusting, degrading pieces of pop music debuted onto Vimeo,  Timbaland’s track featuring Pitbull, Will.I.Am., and David Guetta called “Pass at Me,” (we’re not even reviewing it. Just know that we gave it 1 out of 5 stars) Guetta gracefully redeems himself by teaming up with one of our generation’s most admirable singer/songwriters Sia to deliver “Titanium,” a genuine song along the lines of the self-empowerment anthems that have become a staple within the pop genre.

Sia has been writing honest and emotional lyrics for years now, so it comes as no surprise that lines like “Cut me down, but it’s you who’ll have further to fall. Ghost town, haunted love.” and “I’m bulletproof, nothing to lose, fire away, fire away. ricochet, you take your aim, fire away, fire away. You shoot me down, but I won’t fall, I am titanium”  fit right in with Sia’s catalog of music and are written and vocally delivered in a genuine and humanistic manner that allows the vocal tracks to give power to Guetta’s production.

During the verses, it’s the stereo spread guitar lead that takes focus in conjunction with Sia’s vocals, and contains a very nice reverb effect that’s automated to start at the end of each bar when the guitar phrase is almost completed, and becomes wetter and wetter as the measures progress. It’s a nice pairing with the subtle reverb on Sia’s vocals.

In regards to mixing, it’s an in your face kind of track, making it’s presence loudly known, especially in regards to the kick sample. However, while the dynamic range of the track doesn’t sound like it’s much to play with, Guetta gives the track great integrity by remaining creative to the song as a whole by giving vocals a dash of reverb throughout the run of “Titanium” and even chorusing, delaying, chopping up, and playing with the lead vocal and panning several of the harmony tracks.

And then, the best moment happens: parallel compression. We here at 2020k are big fans of this technique when used correctly and the way the bass drum is used as a sidechain to the compression of several of the synthesizers (and even the vocals from time to time) during the chorus of the track is exquisite. Everything ducks out and in for duration of that section of the track and the settings on the compressor are set to pump the effect at the perfect attack and release time to allow for the sections compressed in the track to give extreme power and drive. As opposed to taking the lazy route by just enabling the same settings on the same channels again to give you the same effect twice within minutes of each other, the effect works different during each section it appears and displays a clever use of distinguishing between the two times it is used.  A+ in our book!

While “Titanium” contains inklings of experimentation here and there, it still sacrifices to conform with the signature radio ready sound that David Guetta has made a name for himself with. Because of that, it’s doubtful that this track will stick out too much amongst the rest of the dance genre’s cespool of monotonous and loud productions. It’s not too much of an issue though, because with the help of Sia, this track is still dynamite at heart.

Listen to the track over here.

There is also a nice, more stripped version of the “Titanium” with Mary J. Blige floating around the internet somewhere. Check it out.

Track rating: 3.5/5

David Guetta’s sophomore album Nothing But the Beat is due out August 30th, 2011.