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Writer and editor Home > Blogs > Brain Droppings > Archives > 2008 > June > 26 > Entry
New disc by Duffy: Good stuff
Today’s disc, kids:
Duffy
ROCKFERRY
There have been numerous British Invasions since that first one back in 1964 — some large, some small, some successful, some far less so. The latest comes in female form, as a wave of young women singers who’ve been huge UK hitmakers are heading our way.
Leona Lewis’ Mariah-esque, melodramatic pop has probably had the biggest commercial impact, while performers like Lily Allen have taken the funky-reggae route. Amy Winehouse’s sadomasochistic, broken-glass jazz bits have gotten the most media attention — so much so, sadly, that the quality and originality of her work has been overshadowed by her crack-smoking. And in fact, Winehouse and her troubles have sort of blotted out a lot of her fellow Brit ladies.
Watch out for Duffy, though. Her debut CD, “Rockferry,” is a fine piece of work, and wholly unlike the stuff we’ve been hearing from these others.
She’s Aimee Anne Duffy from Cardiff, Wales, and she sent her first disc straight to the top of the British charts a few months back. And while that’s never guaranteed American success, Duffy deserves notice. She and her production team have placed her within a signature sound that immediately jumps out: A thick fog of rhythmic strings, echo-chamber girl-group harmonies and romantic, R&B lushness that recalls the bygone wall-of-sound arranging of Phil Spector and the frothy, gorgeous uptown sounds of Dusty Springfield and her mod-era brand of blue-eyed soul.
At first listen, Duffy seems to have chosen such a big sound to offset what at first seems like a still-youthful, fairly imperfect voice. The booming resonance of the title tune, for instance, goes a long way toward compensating for some of the places where she doesn’t sound like she can hit the notes she wants. By the end of song, however, with all she can muster building to a grand, sweeping finish, she’s disspelled any naysaying. She goes on to show with the weeper “Warwick Avenue,” and the hip, ultra-sassy swinger “Mercy” that she’s got the good she needs.
The disc crackles with energy and nerve, not to mention something fresh: A true sense of place and time that makes one feel right in the London she sees and writes about with real feeling.
Bravo for a smashing-good debut. Hope this invader is able to crack the beachhead and make it past our crabby U.S. defenses.
Grade: B+
iPod picks: “Mercy,” “Rockferry,” “Syrup & Honey,” “Serious.”
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