Humming is the second album by Duncan Sheik

Duncan Sheik

Duncan Scott Sheik is an American singer-songwriter and composer. Sheik initially found success as a singer, most notably for his 1996 debut single "Barely Breathing". He later expanded his work to include compositions for motion pictures and the Broadway stage, leading him to involvement in the...

. Released by Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...

 in 1998, it was the follow-up to his self-titled

Duncan Sheik (album)

Duncan Sheik is the Gold-certified, self-titled debut album by American singer/songwriter/producer Duncan Sheik. It was released in 1996 through Atlantic Records and featured the Grammy-nominated hit single "Barely Breathing." The song was a major radio hit, staying on the Billboard Hot 100...

 debut album. More understated than his first album, it did not include any major singles, but featured the London Session Orchestra on some tracks.

Two of the album's songs, "That Says It All" and "A Body Goes Down", are tributes to other singer-songwriters. The earlier song references a list of past talents along with their contributions and personal struggles, ranging from Mick Jagger

Mick Jagger

Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....

 and Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

, to John Lennon

John Lennon

John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

, Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix

James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...

, Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson

Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...

, and Jimmy Page

Jimmy Page

James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...

, concluding with Nick Drake

Nick Drake

Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...

, one of Sheik's chief influences. The latter song is an elegy

Elegy

In literature, an elegy is a mournful, melancholic or plaintive poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead.-History:The Greek term elegeia originally referred to any verse written in elegiac couplets and covering a wide range of subject matter, including epitaphs for tombs...

 for Jeff Buckley

Jeff Buckley

Jeffrey Scott "Jeff" Buckley , raised as Scotty Moorhead, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was the son of Tim Buckley, also a musician...

, following his death in 1997. The song was also included in the 2004 documentary Amazing Grace: Jeff Buckley.

The fourth track on the album, "Alibi", was later included as part of the soundtrack to the 1999 motion picture Teaching Mrs. Tingle

Teaching Mrs. Tingle

Teaching Mrs. Tingle is a 1999 black comedy film and the directing debut of screenwriter Kevin Williamson. The film stars Helen Mirren, Katie Holmes, Marisa Coughlan, Barry Watson and Jeffrey Tambor and was released on August 20, 1999. It was originally titled Killing Mrs...

.

Track listing

1. "In Between" - 4:32
2. "Rubbed Out" - 5:09
3. "Bite Your Tongue
   Bite Your Tongue (song)
   "Bite Your Tongue" was released as a single on February 2, 1999 and is found on Duncan Sheik's second studio album, Humming. The song was called "a driving hard-pop number" by Rolling Stone's Neva Chonin, "self-deprecating" by Allmusic's Roxanne Blanford and Elysa Gardner from the Los Angeles Times...
   
   " - 3:56
4. "Alibi" - 4:07
5. "Varying Degrees of Con-Artistry" - 6:56
6. "That Says It All" - 4:14
7. "Everyone, Everywhere" - 3:30
8. "A Body Goes Down" - 6:05
9. "Nothing Special" - 3:28
10. "House Full of Riches" - 5:37
11. "Nichiren" - 14:47**

**Note: A hidden song, "Foreshadowing," begins at the 6:40 mark of track 11 after the close of "Nichiren"