Worth The Wait
The US release of Colour the Small One comes two years after it’s UK debut, and it’s worth the wait. It’s the second solo album from Sia Furler, who’s known best for lending vocals to the British electronica group Zero 7.Disarmingly intimate and personal, the songs unfold as Sia dreamily sings about life’s relationships. She performs so close to the microphone that she draws you in. The world she inhabits is melancholy, even brutal, but the truthfulness is what resonates. At times she practically purrs, making it difficult to focus on the lyrics, but the power of the CD is the weight of the words.
Sia’s portrayal of love is seductive and gut wrenching. “Don’t Bring Me Down” is about falling in love, but fear is omni-present. She sings, “You’re honey dipped/You are beautiful…don’t bring me down/I beg you.”
In “Breathe Me,” the breakout hit, Sia sings with a gentle drawl, “Be my friend/Hold me/wrap me up.” It’s easy to imagine Tori Amos at her piano performing this.
“Broken Biscuit” begins sparsely as Sia murmurs, “Careful not to crush me/In those hungry hands…I’ve lowered all my armor.” It grows into a more traditional rock track and ends as a small symphony. It’s odd, but it works.
The soulful “Church of What’s Happening Now” is cathartic.
Like most of the tracks, it begins with Sia’s solitary voice but ends with layered vocals that sound as if she’s standing before a choir. She sings, “Throw away yesterday/Today is a brand new day.”
With her expressive voice and poignant lyrics, Sia’s moody Colour The Small One delivers a one two punch emotionally, making it hard to forget.
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