''Duncan Sheik'' is the first album by the American singer-songwriter
Duncan Sheik
Duncan Sheik (born November 18, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and composer. Sheik is known for his 1996 debut single " Barely Breathing", which earned him a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. He has composed ...
, released on
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
on May 20, 1996. Three
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
s were released from it, "
Barely Breathing
Bareilly () is a city in Bareilly district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is among the largest metropolises in Western Uttar Pradesh and is the centre of the Bareilly division as well as the historical region of Rohilkhand. The city ...
", "
She Runs Away" and "
Reasons for Living". The album was
certified Gold
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
by the
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA) on August 27, 1997, denoting sales of over 500,000 copies in the United States.
Recording
Sheik recorded around thirty songs for this album with the producer
Rupert Hine
Rupert Neville Hine (21 September 1947 – 4 June 2020) was an English musician, songwriter and record producer. He produced albums for artists including Rush, Kevin Ayers, Tina Turner, Howard Jones, Saga, the Fixx, Bob Geldof, Thompson Twins ...
while working out a deal with Atlantic (who took over his previous contract from
Immortal Records
Immortal Records was an American independent record label/imprint label based in Los Angeles, California. The company helped launch the careers of such influential acts as Korn, Thirty Seconds To Mars, and Incubus over the years. The label had ...
), which left around 18 tracks unheard from these sessions. The only outtake from the album which saw the light, "View from the Other Side", was released as a B-side in 1997.
Critical reception
Kelly McCartney of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
said the album is more than just the single "Barely Breathing", praising Sheik's songwriting for being "richly melodic and thoughtful" and Hine's production for giving the stories life throughout the track listing and multiple emotions that can be interpreted by the listeners, concluding that there is "something for everybody and a great record all around".
James Hunter from ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' noted how Sheik's musicianship emulated UK acts like
Talk Talk
Talk Talk were an English band formed in 1981, led by Mark Hollis (vocals, guitar, piano), Lee Harris (drummer), Lee Harris (drums), and Paul Webb (bass). The group achieved early chart success with the synth-pop singles "Talk Talk (Talk Talk s ...
and
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to emerg ...
, concluding, "He may be enamored of antique
pop, but Sheik is never merely retro. This
lbumis a defiant debut – beautiful and benevolent of spirit."
The ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' writer Steven Mirkin felt that Sheik's vocal performance was too restraint to allow for any "real emotional commitment" for the listeners to get out of the generic lyrics.
''
Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...
'' critic
Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
dismissed Sheik as a second-rate "matinee idol" and "a whiner stupid enough to fall for the depressed wacko" and "stupid enough to blame it entirely on her", in reference to "Barely Breathing".
Release
The album was met with commercial success and was Gold-certified. It includes the Grammy-nominated hit single "
Barely Breathing
Bareilly () is a city in Bareilly district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is among the largest metropolises in Western Uttar Pradesh and is the centre of the Bareilly division as well as the historical region of Rohilkhand. The city ...
", which stayed on the ''
Billboard Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...
'' singles chart for a record-breaking 55 (consecutive) weeks.
Track listing
Personnel
Adapted credits from the liner notes of ''Duncan Sheik''.
*Duncan Sheik - lead vocals (all tracks), harmony vocals (tracks 1, 2, 3, 6, 10), acoustic guitar (tracks 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11), electric guitar (tracks 1, 3, 6, 7, 10), 12-string guitar (track 6), nylon string guitar (track 9),
EBow
The EBow, short for electronic bow or energy bow, is an electronic device used for playing string instruments, most often the electric guitar. It is manufactured by Heet Sound Products, of Los Angeles, California. It was invented by Greg Heet i ...
(track 3), keyboards (tracks 4, 11), piano (tracks 3, 4, 7), organ (tracks 6, 8), sampling (track 3), drums (track 10), percussion (track 10), drum programming (tracks 4, 5, 6, 9, 10), accordion (track 9)
*Fran Banish - electric lead guitar (tracks 1, 6, 9, 10),
slide guitar
Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...
(tracks 1, 3)
*
Howard Jones - outro piano on "Reasons for Living"
*
Rupert Hine
Rupert Neville Hine (21 September 1947 – 4 June 2020) was an English musician, songwriter and record producer. He produced albums for artists including Rush, Kevin Ayers, Tina Turner, Howard Jones, Saga, the Fixx, Bob Geldof, Thompson Twins ...
- percussion (tracks 1, 3, 6), backing vocals (tracks 3, 10), keyboards (track 9)
*Milo DeCruz (tracks 6, 10),
Pino Palladino
Giuseppe Henry "Pino" Palladino (born 17 October 1957) is a Welsh musician, songwriter, and record producer. A prolific session bassist, he has played bass for acts such as The Who, the John Mayer Trio, Nine Inch Nails, Gary Numan, Jeff Beck ...
(tracks 1, 2, 3, 7) - bass guitar
*Jean-Michel Biger - drums (tracks 1, 2, 3, 6, 7)
*Strings by
The London Session Orchestra
The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...
, led by
Gavyn Wright
Gavyn Wright is a British violinist and orchestra leader with the London Session Orchestra and Penguin Cafe Orchestra.
He is best known for his orchestral arrangements on pop productions (including Elton John, Simply Red, Bush, Mecano, Oasis, ...
, directed by Minnie Matt and Gavyn Wright, arranged and conducted by Simon Hale (tracks 1, 2, 5, 8, 10)
*Ruadhri Cushnan - infinite reverbs on "Home"
;Technical
*Ruadhri Cushnan, Stephen W. Tayler, Cyrille de Smet - recording engineers
*Stephen W. Tayler - mixing
*Tony Cousins - mastering
*Julian Broad - photography
*Richard Bates - art direction
*Allen Hori - design
Certifications
References
{{Authority control
1996 debut albums
Albums produced by Rupert Hine
Atlantic Records albums
Duncan Sheik albums