The Speckless Sky Explained

The Speckless Sky
Type:	Studio album
Artist:	Jane Siberry
Cover:	The Speckless Sky (Jane Siberry album - cover art).jpg
Released:	September 24, 1985
Recorded:	1985
Studio:	Manta Sound, Toronto
Genre:	Progressive pop, ambient pop, new wave
Length:	42:32
Label:	Duke Street Records, Open Air Records, Windham Hill Records
Producer:	Jane Siberry, John Switzer
Prev Title:	No Borders Here
Prev Year:	1984
Next Title:	The Walking
Next Year:	1988

The Speckless Sky is an album by Jane Siberry. It was Siberry's highest-charting album on the Canadian charts and contains her biggest Top 40 hit, "One More Colour". The album's second single, "Map of the World (Part II)", was also a hit on Canada's adult contemporary charts.

Rheostatics recorded a cover of "One More Colour", with additional lyrics by Martin Tielli, on their 1995 album Introducing Happiness; Siberry and Tielli recorded a duet, "A Long Time Love Song", on the 1991 Bruce Cockburn tribute album Kick at the Darkness. Sarah Polley also performed a cover of "One More Colour" in the film The Sweet Hereafter.

After this album, Siberry's work was distributed outside of Canada by Reprise Records.

Shawn Colvin based lyrics for her song "Kill The Messenger" on the cover art for this album after seeing Siberry perform live.

The Speckless Sky is no longer available on CD, but can be obtained via her store site on Bandcamp.^[1]

Reception

Keyboard compared Jane Siberry's sound to "Petula Clark trying to sound like Kate Bush", but praised the album for the "startling electronic orchestrations" featured in several tracks in the album.^[2]

Track listing

All songs by Jane Siberry.

1. "One More Colour" – 4:38
2. "Seven Steps to the Wall" – 5:11
3. "The Very Large Hat" – 5:35
4. "Vladimir • Vladimir" – 7:08
5. "Mein Bitte" – 4:20
6. "The Empty City" – 6:40
7. "Map of the World (Part II)" – 5:07
8. "The Taxi Ride" – 5:39

Personnel

• Jane Siberry – vocals, keyboards, guitar
• Al Cross – drums
• Anne Bourne – keyboards
• John Switzer – bass
• Ken Myhr – guitar, guitar synth
• Rob Yale – Fairlight CMI programming, keyboards

Additional personnel

• Teddy Borowiecki – accordion on 4 7
• Sarah McElcheran – trumpet on 7

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Peak position	Weeks on the chart
1986	Billboard 200	149
1985	RPM Top 100 Albums	17^[3]	32

Singles

Song	Year	Chart	Position
"One More Colour"	1985	RPM Top 100 Singles	27^[4]
"Map of the World (Part II)"	1986	RPM Adult Contemporary	17^[5]

Cover Versions

The Art Of Time Ensemble featuring (former Barenaked Ladies singer) Steven Page recorded The Taxi Ride for their 2010 album A Singer Must Die.

Notes and References

1. Web site: THE SPECKLESS SKY (1985) includes 'One More Colour' | Jane Siberry . 2017-09-13 . 2017-09-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170913231717/http://store.janesiberry.com/album/the-speckless-sky-1985-includes-one-more-colour . dead .
2. In Review. Keyboard. July 1986. 12. 7. 23. December 16, 2017.
3. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.0604&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=ccntousk30frf6h4jsn237nm12 Top Albums/CDs - Volume 43, No. 12, November 30 1985
4. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.0602&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=ccntousk30frf6h4jsn237nm12 Top Singles - Volume 43, No. 11, November 23 1985
5. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.0659&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=ccntousk30frf6h4jsn237nm12 Adult Contemporary - Volume 44, No. 4, April 19 1986