Colour the Small One

Sia | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 10, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Astralwerks
• ASIN: B000CNDIZE
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (89 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,354 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #57 in Music > World Music > Australia & New Zealand
  • #85 in Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > General

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Listening to Colour the Small One seems almost rude, as though you've just crept into someone's bedroom unannounced and read their diary, or even eavesdropped into a private conversation. A lot of this is down to Sia's voice; a soft, intimate, languorous affair that has the unsettling effect of being simultaneously sad and seductive. A couple of years on from her R&B-tinged debut and those classic pairings with Zero 7, the Australian vocalist has come a long way. The music here consists of basic frameworks of rhythm, enhanced by subtle percussion, folky harmonica and nothing more obtrusive than that secretive, melancholic voice. There's certainly room to breathe and Sia unfolds at her own leisurely pace. Opener "Rewrite" works the sad verse/sunny chorus formula to perfection, while "Sunday" turns "Strawberry Fields" harmonium into big orchestral trip-hop. "Sweet Potato" sours the flow, sounding contrived and too like Nelly Furtado for its own good, but "Bully", a collaboration with Beck Hansen, has a sweet melody that belies its subject matter. As cries for help go, this is up there with the best. --Paul Tierney

Product Description

This is the US debut from the voice behind Zero 7 and the soundtrack Six Feet Under: Everything Ends. CD features remixes from Four Teta and Ulrich Schnauss and b-sides exclusive to the US release. Includes 'The Bully' that was co-written with Beck. Astralwerks. 2006.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

140 of 143 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars About Darned Time! August 23, 2005

By L. G. Mabry

Format:Audio CD

Sometimes it's amazing what it takes to make a good album successful. I've owned, and enjoyed Colour the Small One for nearly two years. I've talked it up to friends (especially fans of the group Zero 7), but since it never got a domestic release in the US, the import price kept most people away. But now, after being featured prominently in preseason teasers and the final episode of Six Feet Under, "Breathe Me" has finally put some light on this unheralded artist. About darned time!

I initially became familiar with Sia Furler as one of the three highly distincttive singers on Zero 7's excellent debut record. Looking for more of the same, I purchased Healing Is Difficult, her first solo record. I was slightly disappointed. Although Healing... contained some great songs ("Drink to Get Drunk," "Blow It All Away," and especially, "I'm Not Important to You"), the record also contained a number of quirky, melodically weak up-tempo tunes. Colour the Small One is the better album.

Although informed by the blissed-out chill of Zero 7, Sia's second album has a certain sleepy appeal all its own. The lanquid music perfectly compliments the singer's soulful, semi-slurred delivery and introspective lyrics. Along with "Breathe Me," the songs "Numb," "Rewrite," and "Sunday" perfectly capture the feeling of (to quote "Numb") "living in your head without anything to numb you." Sia's occasional quirkiness remains, on songs like "Sweet Potato," but seems more natural now.

The music people finding distinctive music to feature on Six Feet Under deserve credit for locating an undiscovered gem this time. It's really gratfying to see how many people have been moved by "Breathe Me" to seek out more music from Sia. And it's good to see an artist I've liked and recommended finally starting to get her due. I can't tell you how rarely that happens. But one final hurdle remains: the domestic release. Pay attention, Universal! Get this record out over here!

53 of 58 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful April 9, 2006

By Cale E. Reneau VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

You always feel a little behind-the-pack when you first hear an album 2 years after it's intial release. Concordantly, you feel like a bigger tool when you review an album 2 years after it's initial release. That, however, is precisely what I am doing. In my defense, the album wasn't released in the United States until January 10, 2006. I think there's a good 4 month window where it is appropriate to review a piece of work and I generally follow that rule of thumb. So, seeing as how I have never been outside of the United States of America, I finde it more than appropriate to review Sia's 2004 album "Colour the Small One."

Disclaimers aside, this is a beautiful album. Being, as the Europeans would say, a narrow-minded American, you have probably never become acquainted with Sia, at least in the personal sense. Fans of the group Zero 7 can immediately distinguish her voice as a frequent guest vocalist for the group, including the song "In the Waiting Line" from the Garden State soundtrack. Her voice is soft, intimate, and painful. A random assortment of adjectives, yes, but it accurately depicts the heart and soul of this album.

At first listen, you'll love it. This is not a stretch. But listen to it again, focus on the lyrics and you'll be entering Sia's world, where her most intimate thoughts and emotions are revealed. It's a refreshing experience, but at the same time, a frightening one. So rarely does an artist open up and become frank with her audience. It's as if Fiona Apple softened her voice and made an entire album of the song "Parting Gift."

Sia begins the album by proclaiming "You don't know me/You can't hold me/I'll slip through your hands/I am one single grain of sand." However, by the end of the album you'll feel as if you know her better than herself, and in truth, you just might. Indeed, with tracks like "Natale's Song," it's hard not to feel like you've known this girl for years ("She barely speaks/But I hear her breathing/That's all I need...Momentarily, she brings peace to me").

"Colour the Small One" is best summed up as Sia beautifully sings "I can't detach from the past and all of the pain/I need to learn, start from scratch begin again." As you listen to this album you realize what a cathartic experience this must have been for the artist. Though she makes herself immensly vulnerable, it is particularly comforting to know that when it's all said and done, she has grown as a person and as an artist. As listeners, we can only thank her for letting us all partake in that experience.

Recommended for fans of Tori Amos and Feist. Don't pass up this album.

Key Tracks:

1. "The Bully"

2. "Natale's Song"

3. "The Church of What's Happening Now"

4. "Where I Belong"

4 out of 5 Stars

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic CD January 10, 2006

By Akemi

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Sia's vocals are painful, heartfelt and intense. The melodies on this CD are excellent and well arranged from the old fashioned piano in Breathe Me to the electric guitar work in Moon. I adore the arrangement of these songs, the raw vunerability of them. This is the sort of thing I love to hear in music. Strong powerful feelings, excellent lyrics.