''Colour the Small One'' is the third album by Australian singer-songwriter

Sia Sia Kate Isobelle Furler ( ; born 18 December 1975) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Adelaide, she started her career as a singer in the acid jazz band Crisp in the mid-1990s. In 1997, when Crisp disbanded, she rel ...

, which was released in Australia and the United Kingdom on 19 January 2004. It was issued in the United States on 3 February 2004. Production was by

Jimmy Hogarth Jimmy Hogarth (born 1974, Orkney Islands, Scotland) is a London-based producer and songwriter, whose production and writing credits include, Amy Winehouse, Sia, Tom Grennan, Paolo Nutini, Duffy, Corinne Bailey Rae, Ren Harvieu, Estelle, Tina ...

, who also co-wrote three tracks and provided various instruments. It was re-released 10 January 2006 in the US, after the track "

Breathe Me "Breathe Me" is a 2004 single by Australian singer Sia featured on the album ''Colour the Small One.'' The single has sold over 1.2 million copies in the United States. The song became popular on alternative radio and has been used in many diff ...

" became popular on alternative radio, following its feature as the closing song in the series finale of the HBO drama '' Six Feet Under'' (aired August 2005). The album peaked at No. 14 on the ''Billboard''

Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...

Albums Chart. "Breathe Me" was also featured in the television series, '' Bionic Woman''.

Background and recording

In 2000, Sia was based in the United Kingdom from her previous solo album ''

Healing Is Difficult ''Healing Is Difficult'' is the second studio album by Australian singer and songwriter Sia. It was released in the United Kingdom on 9 July 2001 and in the United States on 28 May 2002. In the UK the album's first single "Taken for Granted" wa ...

'', and it would re-appear in 2001. However, she was unhappy with the promotion of the album. Sia fired her manager, left

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainme ...

and signed with

Go! Beat Records Go! Discs was a London-based record label, launched in 1983 from offices in Wendell Road, Shepherd's Bush, by Andy Macdonald and Lesley Symons. The pair founded the label after Macdonald left his job as press officer at Stiff Records, and Symo ...

, a subsidiary of

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

. The album was recorded in 2003 at Heliocentric Studios in Rye with

producing. Sia credits the biggest influence on her new album as touring with

Zero 7 Zero 7 are an English musical duo consisting of Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker. They began as studio engineers and in 1997 formed the group Zero 7. Their debut album, '' Simple Things'', was released in 2001 in which their song " Destiny" stayed ...

. All tracks are co-written by Sia, five of the original eleven tracks are co-written with bass guitarist,

Samuel Dixon Samuel Dixon (born 1973, Adelaide, South Australia) is a record producer, songwriter and musician, based in London. Dixon has produced and written with artists including Adele, Sia, Kylie Minogue, Christina Aguilera, Paloma Faith and Jack S ...

.au.news.yahoo.com
, collaboration with Samuel Dixon. Hogarth also co-wrote three tracks with Furler and provided various instruments. Note: User may have to click on 'Search again' and at 'Performer:' add Sia or Sia Furler to search for other titles. The track "The Bully" is co-written by Furler with United States musician, Beck. Two other songs from the ''Colour the Small One'' sessions were co-written with Beck but were not used. "Natale's Song" has backing vocals from UK singer

Sophie Barker Sophie Alexandra Jessica Barker (born 5 November 1971) is a British singer and songwriter from London, best known for her work with the British downtempo group Zero 7. Biography Barker left University College London after two years to become a ...

who had previously worked with Sia on the

single, "

Destiny Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...

" (August 2001).Discogs.com
Sophie Barker and Yvonne John Lewis collaborations. Another UK singer,

Yvonne John Lewis Yvonne John Lewis (occasionally spelled Yvonne John-Lewis) is a British female lead and backing singer. She is currently teaching mathematics at a secondary school in North London. Hailing from London, she was discovered by Osmond Wright, better ...

, features on "The Church of What's Happening Now" as backing vocalist.

Release and promotion

Sia at The Parish (Austin, 2006) (cropped)

The initial Australian version of ''Colour the Small One'' had eleven tracks, with "Butterflies" added for later versions. The track "

Don't Bring Me Down "Don't Bring Me Down" is the ninth and final track on the English rock band the Electric Light Orchestra's 1979 album ''Discovery''. It is their highest-charting hit in the United States to date. History "Don't Bring Me Down" is the band's s ...

" was issued as the lead single in Australia in late 2003. It was repackaged as a four-track extended play, ''Don't Bring Me Down'', for UK release. When it was released in 2004, "Breathe Me", was the first single across most markets outside Australasia, whereas "Don't Bring Me Down" was second. "Breathe Me" reached No. 71 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in May 2004, whilst the third single, "Where I Belong", reached the top 100 however the fourth single, "Numb", did not appear in the chart. ''Colour the Small One'' reached the top 200 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

. In promotion of the album,

provided a "making-of" video. Music videos were shot for two tracks, "Breathe Me" and "Sunday", while an animation was made for "Numb". A music video was later shot for "Don't Bring Me Down" but featured the live version which appeared, in April 2007, on the live album, ''

Lady Croissant ''Lady Croissant'' is a live album by Australian singer Sia, released in April 2007 through the record label Astralwerks. Called a "mini-album" by Astralwerks, the collection contains one studio recording ("Pictures") as well as eight live trac ...

''. After "Breathe Me" was used in the TV series finale of '' Six Feet Under'' (aired August 2005), the album was re-released on 10 January 2006 in the US, in an expanded version with 16 tracks. The album peaked at No. 14 on the ''Billboard''

Albums Chart. "Breathe Me" gained popularity on alternative rock and alternative adult radio stations. In 2007, "Breathe Me" was used in television commercials for

Cooper University Hospital Cooper University Hospital is a teaching hospital and biomedical research facility located in Camden, New Jersey. The hospital formerly served as a clinical campus of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the University of Medicine and Dentis ...

of Camden, New Jersey, USA. In April 2008, "Breathe Me" was featured on the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

soap opera, ''

Verbotene Liebe ''Verbotene Liebe'' (, "Forbidden Love") was a German television soap opera created by Reg Watson for Das Erste. The show was set primarily in the German city of Düsseldorf although, at times, the city of Cologne and the Spanish island of ...

'' when

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

supercouple Christian Mann and

Oliver Sabel Oliver Sabel and Christian Mann are fictional characters from the German soap opera ''Verbotene Liebe'' ("Forbidden Love"), which was broadcast on Das Erste from 1995 to 2015. Portrayed by Jo Weil (Oliver) and Thore Schölermann (Christian), the ch ...

embraced as lovers for the first time on German television. Also, in October 2008, whilst at the

Tokyo Game Show , commonly known as TGS, is a video game expo / convention held annually in September in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) and Nikkei Business Publications, Inc. ...

Ubisoft revealed a trailer for their upcoming video-game '' Prince of Persia'' which used the track "Breathe Me". Many of the commercials on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

for the 2008 Summer Olympics featured clips of "Breathe Me" and the song was also used for

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...

commercials during the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gret ...

. "Breathe Me" is also appeared in the NBC television series, '' Bionic Woman''. "Numb" was featured on an episode of

Nip/Tuck ''Nip/Tuck'' is an American medical drama television series created by Ryan Murphy that aired on FX in the United States from July 22, 2003, to March 3, 2010. The series, which also incorporates elements of crime drama, black comedy, family dra ...

(Season 3, Episode #33 "Rhea Reynolds"), played at the close of the episode. It is also regularly used in the UK TV series '' Holby City'' and has been played in the UK soap opera, ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera '' Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on sister channel E4 a ...

'' several times. It has also been used in an episode of '' The Hills''.

Critical reception

''Colour the Small One'' received generally favourable reviews according to

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

website's rating of 77 out of 100 based on 15 professional critics.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

's Jon O'Brien noted that Furler's "hushed, intimate vocals are surrounded by acoustic folk-tinged electronica".

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

's Chris Ott found the album's "downtempo kaleidoscope of pain and progress is unable to hold on to all that it reaches for, but delivers moments of brilliance and daring". Carmine Pascuzzi of Mediasearch described Furler providing a "spark to the acoustic/chilled tastings of today" with a "more experimental" album than ''Healing Is Difficult''.

Track listing

Personnel

* Sia Furler: vocals, background vocals, glockenspiel * Sam Dixon: bass guitar , guitars , twelve-string guitar , accordion , noises * Jimmy Hogarth: guitar , acoustic guitar , keyboards , bass , percussion * Jackie Shave: violin (2-10, 11, 13) * Peter Hanson: violin (10, 11) * Bruce White: viola (2, 11) * Peter Lale: viola (10, 11) * David Daniels: cello (2, 11) * Ben Chappell: cello (11) *

Martin Slattery Martin Paul Slattery (born 30 December 1973 in Blackburn) is an English multi-instrumentalist and composer. He plays electric guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards, saxophone, and flute. Slattery was first a member of Joe Strummer's backing band T ...

: keyboards , piano , electric guitar , flute , clarinet , horn , wind chimes * Kevin Cormack: guitar , accordion , clarinet , vibraphone , percussion , noises * Jeremy Stacey: drums , bass drum * Felix Bloxsom: drums , percussion , marimba * Felix Howard: acoustic guitar * Arnulf Lindner: double bass *

: background vocals *

: background vocals Production * Producer:

Engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

: Cameron Craig * Assistant engineer: Patrick Moore * Mixing:

Tchad Blake Tchad Blake (born 1955) is an American record producer, audio engineer, mixer and musician. A native of Baytown, Texas, he has worked with numerous artists and musicians, including Al Green, American Music Club, Ani DiFranco, Apartment 26, Arc ...

* String arrangement:

Will Malone Wil Malone (born 1952, in Hornsey, North London) is a British music producer and arranger, who has worked with artists including Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Todd Rundgren, The Verve, Massive Attack, Depeche Mode and Italian rocker Gianna Nann ...

* Remix and additional production:

Four Tet Kieran Hebden (born September 1977), known as Four Tet, is an English electronic musician. He came to prominence as a member of the post-rock band Fridge before establishing himself as a solo artist with charting UK albums such as '' Rounds'' ...

Ulrich Schnauss Ulrich Schnauss (born 1977) is a German electronic musician and producer based in London, England. He is best known for being a member of Tangerine Dream from 2014 to 2020. Biography Ulrich Schnauss was born in the northern German seaport of ...

Photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employe ...

: Martin Gerlach * Artwork: Stephen Tappin * Art direction: Blue Source

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colour The Small One 2004 albums 2006 albums Sia (musician) albums Astralwerks albums Folk albums by Australian artists Folktronica albums Electronica albums by Australian artists