A Subtle Sheik, a Spirited Sobule

Duncan Sheik knows a lot about subtlety. At the Troubadour on Friday, however, the East Coast singer-songwriter’s brand of low-key sensuality didn’t translate into an electrifying stage show.

One strike against the young musician was that he followed Jill Sobule, a woman who seems to love being on stage as much as Sheik tends to shrink from the limelight. Emphasizing songs from her new album, “Happy Town,” Sobule played a straight-ahead, exuberant set, equally at home solo on acoustic guitar and with her full band. Chummy and infectiously enthusiastic, Sobule delivered her best-known anthem, the matter-of-fact “I Kissed a Girl,” and also sang about Prozac, the evil popular girl in high school and overcoming sour grapes.

Sheik is more ambitious with his moody guitar- and keyboard-driven music and soul-searching lyrics. The songs on his self-titled debut album, including the Top 20 hit “Barely Breathing,” are emotive and careful, taking cues from such introspective British cult heroes as Blue Nile and Nick Drake. Sheik has gained attention with his meticulous attempts to push pop into the realms of folk, jazz and classical music, but at the Troubadour his songs frequently felt slow and washed out when they should have been hypnotic, and plain rather than sweetly understated.

Except for his plaintive, impassioned “She Runs Away,” it was hard to empathize with Sheik’s inner journey. Only time will tell whether he will be a solid singer-songwriter with a future, or just another pop balladeer with opaque issues and a palatable voice.

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Duncan Sheik and Jill Sobule perform on Tuesday at the Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano, 8 p.m. $13.50. (714) 496-8927. Also Wednesday at the Troubadour, 9081 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, 8 p.m. $13.50. (310) 276-6168.