Please Stay:
Oh Boy:
Warwick Avenue is below:
Clip of Mercy:
Review below is from here.
Duffy @ The Ritz by Deborah Linton
IN a baby-doll dress and declaring herself 'a good Welsh girl' Duffy's sugary sweet image is out the window with one blast of her soul siren voice.
Launching straight into the bluesy 'Syrup and Honey' from her debut album, Rockferry, the soul sensation of the moment promised to deliver to the excited and expectant crowd that packed out The Ritz for her.
The self-assured 23-year-old dropped her first name – Aimee – both personally and professionally four years ago. And since being launched into the mainstream she has worked to drop the myriad of comparisons to the soul superstars that have preceded her and her retro, Motown-soaked tracks.
Duffy and A&M Records stable mate, Adele, were launched as 'the new Amys' – Winehouse – while her whispy vocals, blonde do, and smokey eyes all hark to Dusty Springfield.
The pint size stature and powerhouse voice are reminiscent of a young Lulu – but these are all parallels Duffy is keen to expel.
She does not want to be an imitator and her commanding and flirtatious performance confirms that the former waitress from the north Wales town of Nefyn is determined to put her own stamp on the industry.
Cooley belting out title track Rockferry – named after the area of The Wirral and birthplace of her father – and the soulful 'Serious', she takes a breather and working to preserve the naive, home girl image quips 'this is really close to Wales - I might pop home for a cup of tea later'.
Northern Soul boys
She dedicates the next track, 'Delayed Devotion', to the Northern Soul boys who featured in the video to her chart-topping career launcher 'Mercy' and were among the crowd.
The emotionally bruised lyrics of 'Hanging on Too Long', 'Scared' and the superb 'Stepping Stone' are definitive of Duffy's heartbreak infused sound. She's quick to admit she has 'a few ex-boyfriends in Manchester' and if they've inspired this kind of performance then she's something to be thankful for.
With only a handful of well-known songs and just 10 album tracks in total Duffy lets the crowd in on some well-received B-sides including the touch-of-disco 'Tomorrow', studio jam 'Put it in Perspective' and the stripped down 'O Boy' which she proudly informs her fans is the track that got her discovered.
As the '60s sounds run, it comes as no surprise that her only cover is a captivating rendition of Burt Bacharach's 'Please Stay' which sounds as though he could have written it just for her. In fact it is arranged for her by record producer and former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler.
Her chart successes 'Warwick Avenue' – a wistful ballad, perhaps most reminiscent of the Bacarach era – and the explosive 'Mercy' which fired her into the mainstream earlier this year have the crowd delighted.
Encore 'Distant Dreamer' seals the deal. No imitations – Duffy has arrived.
1 comment:
I expect you've seen it but there's an excellent review in today's Daily Telegraph
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