You Got Me on My Knees Begging Please

In what could have been an acknowledgement to comparisons to Amy Winehouse, in her debut single Mercy, Welsh singer Duffy succumbs to temptation chanting, “Yeah, yeah, yeah” as apposed to Winehouse who would say, No, no, no” to rehab. We have seen that it would have been in the best interest of Winehouse to say yes, but only time will tell if Duffy made the right decision to beg for mercy.

The comparison to Winehouse of course comes from the fact that both are riding the retro bandwagon, but where Winehouse, with the help of producer, made that retro feel sound new again putting them up to contemporary themes. The songs on Rockferry are straight up retro, without any hint of modern indulgence, the songs sound like they could have been taken right from albums of girl groups from the sixties if they had been fronted by Dusty Springfield.

The sound gets the retro feel thanks to the plucky bassline of Mercy, the saxophone of Distant Dreamer, and the wall of sound thanks to orchestras that back many of songs. And with lyrics that do not stray from the topic of love, whether it be pro or con to the idea, is right out of the girl group playbook. But it is the stripped down, softer Warwick Avenue, with more emotional lyrics than anything out of Motown in the sixties, is where Duffy really shines and just lets loose on some idiot that did her wrong, again. When so many people are starting to say, “No, no, no” to the antics of Amy Winehouse, it is time to start saying, “Yeah, yeah, yeah” to Duffy.

Song to Download - Warwick Avenue

Rockferry gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.