Sunday, February 20, 2011

My new favourite album

Went to the wreck-a-stow the other day. Had a few things in mind that I wanted to look for, but went with a budget in mind so I didn’t want to go over 30 bucks. Started off with a few cheap scores in the used section. Three of them for 5 bucks a piece, so had another 15 dollars of cap room. Decided to check out the lower rack with the newer records, with multiple copies of most of them. That’s where I came across “Rockferry” by Duffy.
I remember hearing her debut song a few years before and kinda digging it, but had totally forgot about her. At the time, she was labeled as one of the new Amy’s, as in Winehouse who was at the height of cracked out success when “Rockferry” was released in 2008. There were at least five copies of the record, most of them priced 19.99 and one was even 21.99?! But the last one was only 17.99. It would put me a little over my budget, but I just had a feeling about it. I put it back at first and went through the rest of the section. Didn’t find anything else and did a little more browsing. But I had that feeling, I needed to buy the Duffy record.
I put it on and "spell-binding" is what first came to mind, her voice is just incredible. As with most great music, I didn’t really know what to think of it at first. I kinda liked it, but wasn’t sure if I was just thinking that because I wanted to be right about buying it, or if I actually did like it. But……there was just something about her voice and some of the songs were pretty cool. I listened to it again, at first just side one a couple of times. Then I flipped it over and listened to side two. It finished and I flipped it over again, then it started to hit me and I couldn’t stop listening. There were a few songs that stood out at first, such as “Rockferry”, “Mercy” and “Distant Dreamer”. But soon enough it all just came together!
It is a little mellow in parts, but her voice is just incredible and there are some great grooves to keep the album moving. The Amy Winehouse comparions are understandable, but not entirely accurate. They’re both female singers from the U.K. who have a throaty retro style. But while Amy has a horn led Stax-soul type of sound, Duffy is far more lush and contemporary. Instead of horns, Duffy has strings and keyboards, with a sweet R&B rhythm section behind her. All with 21st century production and like I mentioned, this girl can sing. And while Amy definitely reminds you of a certain sound from the past, Duffy isn’t so easy to pin down. She does have lyrics like, “When I drop you boy, you’ll need another toy”. Not exactly something that would appeal to the male demographic. But with these melodies, songs and production, she could sing the phone book and it would still sound great.
It definitely turned out to be the right decision and the best 17.99 I’ve spent in a long time. Been listening to the record almost non-stop for two days. I should actually be in bed right now, but I just had to blog about it. It also gives me a chance to listen to it a few more times. Side two is mid way through at the moment (for about the 20th listen) and I’ll probably give side one another go before I call it a night. The quicker I get to sleep, the quicker I can get up in the morning and put Duffy on again.  
The first single off the album and song I first heard in 2008 is “Mercy”. But if you want to hear your first Duffy song, you should listen to "Rockferry"

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