Duncan Sheik: Phantom Moon : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

After scoring a sleeper radio hit with his first single, "Barely Breathing," Duncan Sheik has pursued an ambient vocal pop that floats around the room without ever touching the ground. Thanks largely to his creamy, vibrato-free croon, this smoothie can sing anything and it'll still come out melancholy and pretty. For his third, pointedly non-rock album, Sheik supplies tunes to the words of playwright and fellow New Yorker Steven Sater. But unless you study the CD booklet, you'd never spot the lyrical or vocal difference. Instead, the break from his previous albums lies in the arrangements. Rather than radio-friendly rock guitars, Phantom Moon suggests folk without ever sounding remotely folksy. Intimate strings, minimal drums and soft sighs caress meandering tunes that avoid hooks or obvious statements. But Sheik's delivery lacks the emotional depth of his U.K. models: Nick Drake, David Sylvian and the Blue Nile couldn't conceal their pain behind lush arrangements. Phantom Moon casts a lovely, languid shadow, but the originals have got it eclipsed. (RS 863)

BARRY WALTERS