Colour Green

iTunes Review

Sibylle Baier, an actress and mother, recorded these songs in secret between 1970 and 1973, and had no intention of ever releasing them. It is only thanks to the efforts of her son that we are now able to hear this exceptional material. Baier’s fragile but assured voice will surely remind many of Vashti Bunyan’s breathless whisper, or of Chan Marshall’s warbling vulnerability, but as tempting these comparisons are, they shortchange Baier’s unique melodic sensibility, and overlook the striking singularity of her lyrical universe. Baier’s lovingly sketched reflections on the mysteries of everyday life are worlds apart from Bunyan’s pastoral fantasies or Marshall’s monster-haunted mythos. In Baier’s hands the simplest of moments, an afternoon drive (“Driving”), a quiet epiphany by the fireplace (“Forget”), or the act of falling asleep (“Give Me A Smile”), are imbued with a wholly unexpected poeticism. Using only her voice and guitar Baier manages to make commonplace experiences burn with an unmatched emotional intensity that makes Colour Green one of the most striking releases of 2006.