sia Details

Sia Kate Isobelle Furler, to use the name her musician parents gave her, already has a staggering track record. If her name itself - pronounced 'See-ah' - isn't familiar to millions, her voice undoubtedly is.
 
 In 2000, the Adelaide born singer scored a bolt from the blue Top 10 hit with her debut single, Taken For Granted. Pairing her unique Australian drawl with the strident strings from Prokofiev's 'Romeo & Juliet', the track was championed by Trevor Nelson and had Sia performing live on Jo Whiley's Radio 1 show. Her debut album, 'Healing Is Difficult', arrived to similar cries of ´the next big R&B thing'. Then, to cap it all, she added her jazzy slurs to two tracks on Zero 7's Simple Things album and became the unmistakable voice of the year's coolest down-tempo soundtrack. All the pieces for a phenomenal career seemed to be in place.
 
 And then nothing. 
 
  	 "I went a bit mental after that," she explains, before letting out a laugh that would stop traffic. "No seriously, I needed therapy and everything." She recovers her composure only long enough to explain that going from hero to zero left her confused and frustrated and that it was a really enjoyable time, those moments of feeling like a 'Coolio'! But sadly they've passed now.
 
 Brandishing both wicked humour and brutal honesty, it's sometimes hard to know exactly when Sia's joking. What is certain is that, with fragile beauty, a collaboration with Beck, and swathes of sensual soul-searching, 'Healing Is Difficult's long overdue follow-up, ‘Colour The Small One, rekindles thoughts of an all conquering phenomenon and will surely make her a 'coolio' once again.
 
 From the lilting pianos and claustrophobic beats of 'Breathe Me', to 'Sunday's' enchanting harmonium and breathless chant, it's a mesmerising album, undercut by the hope and despair of a little girl lost. Guilt, and how to deal with it, is the recurring theme with Sia's vulnerable voice as a beacon guiding through the pain and fear. "I call it easy Listening," snorts Sia trying to keep a straight face. "That's what I've been telling everyone." A mix of horror and hilarity dawns on her face. "Do you think it's depressing? It's not too depressing is it? It's meant to be nice, easy, music. Songy and lush." 
 
 Whatever it is, it certainly isn't the album anyone was expecting. The muffled rhythm track and sensual cinematic strings of 'Don't Bring Me Down' are a stratosphere away from 'Taken For Granted's' dogmatic march. ‘Colour The Small One’ would never be mistaken for R&B. "I hated that," she cringes at the thought of the jazzy beats and soulful grooves of her first album being tagged 'urban'. But that's not why this album's different. "I just wanted to make an album that was more song driven, and I've changed as a person. After the first album I lost it, and this album reflects how I was feeling. The vocals are small and needy, because that's how I felt." She looks momentarily troubled before adding, "Plus, I'd tried to have a pop career and it didn't work, so I thought I'd try something else." More strangulated giggling. "If this doesn't work I'll fuck off back to Australia."
 
 Sia's vocal talents extend all the way back to her earliest memory. But unlike most singers, she isn't exactly the product of her childhood influences. Born in Adelaide, she was raised on the hippiest street in Australia. "Everyone was a musician or worked for Circus Oz." Her parents played in a rockabilly band called The Soda Jerks, and her dad, "a real nut nut", briefly played guitar in uncle Colin's band Me