Sia - Colour The Small One (2004)

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

Tracklist:

01. Rewrite 04:45
02. Sunday 04:17
03. Breathe Me 04:34
04. The Bully 03:51
05. Sweet Potato 04:00
06. Don’t Bring Me Down 04:25
07. Natale’s Song 02:32
08. Butterflies 03:26
09. Moon 05:02
10. The Church Of What’s Happening Now 04:27
11. Numb 04:40
12. Where I Belong 04:43