Sia — Healing Is Difficult (10th Anniversary Edition) [Deluxe Version] (2014)

     ^{Sia — Healing Is Difficult (10th Anniversary Edition)} 
Birth name: Sia Kate Isobelle Furler
Also known as: Sia
Born: 18 December 1975, Adelaide, Australia
Location: n
Album release: July 9, 2001, May 28, 2002 (US)/April 21, 2014
Record Label: Long Lost Brother Records
Duration:     102:44
Tracks:
01. Fear        5:11
02. Drink to Get Drunk        4:41
03. Taken for Granted        4:35
04. Blow It All Away        4:40
05. Get Me        3:14
06. I’m Not Important to You        6:09
07. Sober and Unkissed        4:01
08. Healing Is Difficult        5:24
09. Judge Me        4:15
10. Little Man        6:05
11. Insidiously        8:50
12. Drink to Get Drunk (Different Gear Remix)        7:55
13. Taken for Granted (Groove Chronicles Remix)        5:19
14. Taken for Granted (Desert Eagle Discs Mix)        4:19
15. Taken for Granted (Restless Soul Remix)        7:02
16. Taken for Granted (Soul Brother Remix)        5:22
17. Taken for Granted (Mvp Remix)        4:57
18. Judge Me (Siksense Remix)        5:35
19. Little Man (Exemen Works)        5:03
Writers:
♠♠   Sia Furler 1, 3, 7, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17
♠♠   Furler, Frank 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 18, 19
♠♠   Furler, Blair MacKichan, Felix Howard, Kevin Armstrong 4
Credits:
♠♠   Otto Williams played Bass on tracks 1 and 7.
♠♠   Quadraphonic (Richard Louis Simmonds & Tony Rapacioli) played Strings on tracks 2 and 3.
♠♠   Isobel Dunn Arranged and played Strings on track 4.
♠♠   Blair MacKichan played Strings besides Produced the track 4.
♠♠   Jesse Flavell played Guitar besides Produced the track 7.
♠♠   Kevin Armstrong  Composer
♠♠   Hamish Brown  Photography
♠♠   Isabelle Dunn  Arranger
♠♠   Sam Frank  Composer
♠♠   Sia Furler  Arranger, Art Direction, Composer, Producer
♠♠   Jeremy Gill  Engineer
♠♠   Felix Howard  Composer
♠♠   Blair Mackichan  Composer, Producer
♠♠   Ian Rossiter  Engineer
♠   Healing Is Difficult is the second album by Australian recording artist Sia Furler, released in the United Kingdom on July 9, 2001 and in America on May 28, 2002. In the UK the album's first single "Taken for Granted" was released in June 2000 and peaked at #10 on the UK Singles Chart. The follow-up "Little Man" failed to chart even though it received a two~step garage remix which was popular at the time. A third single "Drink to Get Drunk" was planned, however only the "Different Gear" Remix received a limited release across Europe, promoted as "Different Gear vs. Sia". The fourth and final single planned was "Blow It All Away", which was re~recorded as "Throw It All Away" due to the September 11 attacks. However, the single has failed to surface. The track "Sober and Unkissed" was originally featured on Sia's first solo album, OnlySee, under the title "Soon", and "I'm Not Important to You" was originally performed by Sia with her band Crisp for their album The Word and the Deal in 1996 as the track "Sia's Song".
Review by Jon O’Brien;  Score: ***½
♠   Aside from her only U.K. Top Ten hit, Australian chanteuse Sia's first major~label release, Healing Is Difficult, is perhaps the most under-appreciated and ignored of her critically acclaimed career, coming years before her Six Feet Under~assisted U.S. breakthrough, and just a little too early to capitalize on the word of mouth success of the Zero 7 debut she provided vocals for. It's a shame that more of her ever-growing fan base haven't been inspired to check the disc out; the New Jack Swing beats and tinny strings of the All Saints~esque "Get Me" and the meandering drum‘n'bass~tinged "Judge Me" haven't aged particularly well, so this is perhaps her most personal and emotional record to date. The clever sample of Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet" on the chiming trip~hop of "Taken for Granted" and the ambient fusion of haunting cellos, fluttering flutes, and slap basslines on the lilting dub~reggae of "Fear" offer early glimpses of the eclectic streak that has since pervaded her atmospheric brand of coffee house soul. Written while grieving the death of her boyfriend, Healing Is Difficult's 11 tracks understandably often allude to her personal tragedy ("My first love is already dead") but despite the difficult subject matter, the follow~up to the Aussie~only release Only See (of which one track, "Sober and Unkissed" appears here in remixed form, as does her former acid~jazz outfit Crisp's "I'm Not Important to You") is far from a depressing listen, as Sia’s breathless, sensual vocals provide a wonderfully breezy accompaniment to Blair Mackichan's subtle, jazz~fused production, particularly on the saxophone~led "Drink to Get Drunk," the acoustic nu~soul of "Insidiously," and the seductive, string~soaked "Blow It All Away," the closest the album gets to Zero 7’s blissful chill~out. Laying the foundations for her more celebrated future material, Healing Is Difficult is an achingly honest record which successfully pursues the retro jazz~soul sound half a decade before it became in vogue.
Personal life:
♠♠   Furler's parents, Phil Colson and Loene Furler, were members of Adelaide~based rockabilly band, The Soda Jerx. Colson is a composer, playwright and band leader, Loene is an art lecturer, musician and songwriter. Furler described her boyfriend, Dan, as her "first true love". As mentioned above, the couple planned to travel together on a world trip; she stopped off in Thailand while he continued to London. There, Dan was killed in a traffic accident, a week before Furler was due to arrive.
♠♠   In 2008, Furler discussed her bisexuality in interviews with Scotland on Sunday and AfterEllen.com. She was included on a list of gay entertainers in the June — July 2009 issue of The Advocate. In both 2009 and 2010, Furler was nominated by readers of SameSame.com.au as one of the 25 most influential lesbian and gay Australians, though she is bisexual. According to Furler, "I've always been honest if anyone ever asked me. Before I was actually successful I'd always said I've always dated boys and girls and anything in between. I don't care what gender you are, it's about people. I didn't just recently open up, I just recently got famous! I've always been… well, flexible is the word I would use." In June 2010, Furler expressed a wish to marry her then girlfriend JD Samson of electro~punk band Le Tigre. The couple has since broken up.
♠♠   In June 2010, Furler's official website announced that all scheduled promotional events and shows had been cancelled due to her poor health. She cited extreme lethargy and panic attacks and considered retiring permanently from performing and touring. According to her Twitter account, she was diagnosed with Graves' disease — an autoimmune disorder with an over~active thyroid. Four months later, in an ARIA Awards interview Furler said her health was improving after rest and thyroid hormone replacement therapy.
Discography:
♠♠   OnlySee (1997)
♠♠   Healing Is Difficult (2001)
♠♠   Colour the Small One (2004)
♠♠   Some People Have Real Problems (2008)
♠♠   We Are Born (2010)
♠♠   1000 Forms of Fear (2014)
Website: http://siamusic.net/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SiaKateIsobelleFurler 
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/siamusic
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/siamusic
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/siavideos
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Sia — Healing Is Difficult (10th Anniversary Edition) [Deluxe Version] (2014)

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