Rockferry

[ A&M Records / CD ]

Release Date: Friday, 4 April, 2008

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'Rockferry' is the debut album from Welsh singer Duffy. Written and produced in collaboration with Bernard Butler, the album is a stunning showcase for her voice, which brings to mind such great singers as Dusty Springfield, Lulu and Sandie Shaw.

The most hotly anticipated album release of 2008 comes not from someone rammed into the collective consciousness by their media ubiquity. Duffy is an unknown quantity at this point, having performed but a small number of gigs, mostly in support of The Magic Numbers, and having only just begun to be seen on TV, most notably with recent appearances on BBC1's Later with Jools Holland.

Yet her soulful voice has already beguiled many of the U.K.'s musical tastemakers and news of its beauty and of the strength of her songs is spreading by word of mouth even as you read these words. BBC Radio One's Jo Whiley chose Duffy's title track and album taster 'Rockferry' as her "Single of the Week", further adding to the momentum. Now, as the comparisons fly (Dusty Springfield has emerged as the favourite), it's time to discover her for yourself.

Former Suede guitarist and record producer, Bernard Butler was introduced to Duffy by Rough Trade's Jeannette Lee who, in August 2004 and after hearing demos recorded in this or that mate's home, became the singer's mentor and manager. For Duffy, to have not just a friend but also point of both safety and reference in the strange new world she found herself in was crucial to her own musical development and sense of self.

"People keep saying to me, 'You've made a great record' but I can't take that in because I didn't do it on my own. Jeannette and I made 'Rockferry' together and she's been with me every step of the way, broadening my horizons, introducing me to people I can trust." Butler was just one of them: having written the glorious, chorus-free, utterly hypnotic 'Rockferry' together at the beginning of the project, they then worked on a further three of the ten tracks on what is already being talked about as 2008's most important debut release. Jimmy Hogarth & Steve Booker are the other collaborators on this classic-in-waiting.

What can you expect to hear? The title track and album opener, as atmospheric, slow-building and idiosyncratic song as you could hope for, leads into a collection of original material that some might call retro in feel (those Dusty flavours, that girl group vibe) but which Duffy herself prefers to identify as classic. You'll find arrangements as sparsely effective as those against which Dionne Warwick told her Bacharach & David-wrought tales of heartbreak in the early 1960s. You'll find lush choruses and swooning hooks (as perfected by the late Miss Springfield and various distinguished others). But this is far from pastiche.

What you'll find instead is irrefutable evidence of a significant new talent, and one that has developed in splendid isolation, not in reaction to market forces or the input of focus groups and industry experts. Duffy is the real, unspoiled original deal. "People keep asking me where my voice comes from and the fact is I don't know," says the brightest new star of 2008. "Why are your eyes the colour they are? It's no answer at all but it's the only one I have."

Tracks:
1. Rockferry
2. Warwick Avenue
3. Serious
4. Stepping Stone
5. Syrup & Honey
6. Hanging On Too Long
7. Mercy
8. Delayed Devotion
9. Scared
10. Distant Dreamer

As recommended by Graham Reid on Music From Elsewhere