Australian vocalist Sia first became widely noticed for her stunning vocal work on Zero 7's 2001 critically acclaimed lounge-esque Electronic debut album Simple Things, then proceeded to disappear off the face of the earth. Then in 2004, she released her second album Colour The Small One overseas, but Americans never even got a whiff of it because she never scored a U.S. record deal. Then a strange twist of fate happened. Her song "Breathe Me" became a huge hit for the HBO show Six Feet Under (it's played during that final sequence of the final episode where simultaneously Claire drives cross-country and the montage of what happens to all the characters in the future is going on. What? I worshiped that show. Wanna fight about it?) and suddenly you couldn't turn it to that channel without hearing that damn song.

Well, two years later, the U.S. finally gets a chance to get their hands on Sia's sophomore album, and to be honest, I have to say I don't think we were missing much. "Breathe Me" is here of course, but do you think the label might have known it was the only good song on the album when two remixes of "Breathe Me" are tacked on to the end of this domestic release? The fact that Colour The Small One also sounds like something that Tori Amos could whip up in one afternoon doesn't help the cause either. Vocally and production-wise this album is so dreadfully lifeless and uninspired that I had a tough time just listening all the way through it. Personally, that's shocking to me considering I loved her work so much on that Zero 7 album. Oh well, do yourself a huge favor and just pick up the single to "Breathe Me" or better yet the wonderfully eclectic Six Feet Under soundtrack and you'll be right as rain.