Beautiful and playful in its own right at times, and desperately missing Fiona Apple's gravel-y voice at others, the album, Strung Out on Fiona Apple, is often inconsistent.

Though Apple's versions are brooding at times in her lyrics and her intonation, the back cover of the album proclaims its intent is "bringing out the melodic beauty of her songs."

The result of this is an empty sound, as the piano that is usually so ubiquitous through Apple's music is absent, even though it is (controversially) classified as a string instrument. The violin, viola, cello and electric bass are played wonderfully, with no apparent flaws, but here the form does not fit the function.

On a positive note, the rendition of "Criminal" is as catchy as the original, and the instruments do a good job representing Apple's range by switching melodic responsibilities.

Nevertheless, some songs make better transitions to the string format than others. "Sleep to Dream" rolls along at the same languid pace as its inspiration, while "Shadowboxer" loses its bluesy feel to the fate of the instruments.

Ultimately, the album is "sleep music": Music that is so inoffensive and not engaging enough that one can fall asleep peacefully — not altogether a bad thing.

Grade: CD