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 So, the sunshine of spring and summer is
just around the corner (not that you’d be able to tell right now!), and
there’s perhaps no better time for Welsh wonder, Duffy, to release what
sounds to be like the perfect summer album.
Though to be honest, we weren’t so sure at first.
‘Rockferry’ gets underway with the eponymous track, and we’re almost
immediately worried; it sounds like the sort of thing our Grans might be
playing on the radio on a Sunday afternoon; soft, delicate soul music
glistening under Duffy’s undoubtedly magnificent pipes.
But listen further, to the retro steel guitars that sparkle towards the
end to that luscious bass, and it’s easy to imagine yourself chilling
out in the summer sun, glass of something cold in one hand and the
latest Summer Blockbuster novel in the other.
‘Warwick Avenue’ continues in a similar style, and as it does, we’re
lulled by smooth pianos into a world where troubles may exist, but for
now are washed away by a sea of calm to a land far away.
Before long, we get to recent single, ‘Mercy’, and as good as it is, we
can’t help but feel as though it’s been recorded simply so that Duffy
could have something to shill on the radio.
Don’t get us wrong, it’s certainly an enjoyable number, a reminder more
than perhaps any other song that Duffy is all about that old soul sound;
quivering bass and lush keys all tailor-made to make you move and
wrapped under those shivering, tantalising vocals.
Yet ‘Mercy’ seems to be in the strange position of fitting perfectly
onto almost any modern soul album, other than the one we currently find
it on.
As ‘Rockferry’ continues, we decide it doesn’t really matter. We’re
drifting off to sweet sounds of ‘Delayed Devotion’ and dreaming of lazy
summer days to the 60s-styled closer of ‘Distant Dreamer’.
And OK, Duffy wouldn’t be so out of place on your Nan’s stereo, but so
what? It’s certainly going to be one album you can’t do without this
summer, and just to prove how much this album begs to be listened to in
the nice warm sun, as your writer brings this review to a close, the
clouds have parted, and lo and behold, it looks quite nice outside!
In a nutshell: Soothing soul music designed to bring out the sun
You might like this if you enjoy: Secretly listening to your Dad’s
Northern Soul collection, you’re Gran’s radio, or Amy Winehouse.
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