Polydor
Pop, 2008

Ms Duffy’s voice is polarizing – you either love it or hate it. Think Macy Gray and Fantasia. That’s the effect Duffy’s voice is going to have on people. I personally find it adorable but I can’t promise that you will feel the same way.

The fabulous Mercy, by the way, is not representative of the songs on this CD. An insanely catchy track that simultaneously recaptures the groove of the 1960’s and sounds contemporary nonetheless, Mercy is easily one of my favorite songs of the bunch.

However, the rest of the songs are more sedate and even introspective in nature. The title track is a sweeping ballad that showcases Ms Duffy’s voice to a dramatic extent. Tracks like Warwick Avenue and Syrup & Honey attempt to capture the dramatic strokes of Lulu and Dusty Springfield and, in my opinion, succeed in doing so quite well. I especially love Distant Dreamer, easily the most epic of the songs here, because this song just flies, I tell you, like the most corny Olympics theme song that I can’t help but to adore.

A part of me can’t help thinking that Ms Duffy is still trying to find a coherent style that she can call her own here, since most of the songs here see her channeling especially Lulu too much for her own good. But that’s okay, she’s still relatively new to the business and there is plenty of room to grow. Rockferry is a fabulous album from the title track to Mercy to Distant Dreamer and I can’t wait for more.