Chikamatsu sounded unduly earnest.

They sound earnest and unsettled and are always a little ragged.

Reining in his voice for a groove seemingly on loan from U2, he sounds earnest but not terribly original.

Trying to sound earnest rather than furious, Nellie went on, "You just can't trust men, Edna.

It sounded no less earnest and no more compelling on a second hearing, with passages of lovely music fading into a kind of monochromatic gray wash.

Jared's introspective coffeehouse pop-rock approach is mellow but not limp and his vocal delivery sounds earnest and passionate.

Alex sounded so earnest and interested that she felt quite pleased with him.

Even if this caliber of MacDowell advocacy were possible today (we have no Liszts or Seidls), the results might sound intolerably earnest.

She sounded so earnest that I felt petty.

But by 2004, indie rock sounded sweeter and more earnest than ever.