Duffy
Endlessly

Being labelled ‘the new Amy Winehouse’ would seem a tough gig at first, even more so after finding out you’re only one of a half-dozen girls being cursed with the epiphet.

What stood Duffy out from the pack back in 2008 though was a genuine ‘60s-style sound, ex-Suede guitar god Bernard Butler on songwriting and production duties, and a voice that would sound stupid doing the kind of vocal aerobatics that mar the efforts of so many other female singers.

(On that note, somebody please tell Christina Aguilera if she’s got nothing to say, she should shut her mouth - “oooOOwooOWOhuuWAAAOOO” is most definitely not a word.)

Keeping it simple and in places, almost lo-fi, gave her debut Rockferry real charm. Showing guts though, she’s polished up her sound and taken more than a few risks on her latest record, Endlessly.

Gone are Butler and the imitation over-saturated sound of two-track magnetic tape. This time around Duffy has teamed up with 60-something-year-old songwriter Albert Hammond (probably best-known these days for siring the Strokes guitarist of the same name), and opted for a cleaned-up version of Rockferry’s ramshackle production, even throwing in the odd analogue synthesiser - which is always to be recommended!

She still has one foot in 1962, but the other’s acknowledging at least the ‘70s, with over-dramatic disco strings and pulsating basslines. For example, you could call ‘Keeping My Baby’ a 21st Century rewrite of Madonna’s mid-’80s hit ‘Papa Don’t Preach’ - but you’d be almost two decades in the wrong direction!

Lead single ‘Well Well Well’ is far from the best song on the album, but its backing track is up there courtesy of hip hop legends The Roots, who give Winehouse’s backing band the Dap-Kings a run for their money.

The most modern-sounding track here is ‘Lovestruck’, which borders on Kylie territory, without quite being as bad as that might sound. It’s not bad at all actually, despite sounding terrible on paper.

And that’s what is so perplexing about Duffy - nothing she does should work at all. Young, Welsh, white ex-Idol contestant with an eccentric voice, not only successfully adapting ‘60s Motown and soul for the modern era, but writing her own material?

Take ‘Girl’, for example, which takes its title from a mid-period Beatles song, its chord changes from their early days and pastes on a Lulu-style tune that borders on trite, but manages to stay on the right side of pastiche. It should be throwaway, but she makes it worth keeping.

And like on Rockferry, she saves the best song for last - ‘Hard for the Heart’ falls nicely in between her two default styles - uptempo soul and dreamy, almost too-polite pop - with unexpected chord changes breaking up the verses, and staccato strings and claps driving a simple, softly-sung, effective chorus: ‘Life is a play / and we all play a part / but it often gets hard for the heart’.

Endlessly is a solid follow-up any fans of her debut should enjoy. Not all of them will, but that’s a risk she seems willing to take.

Try it if you like: The Supremes, Lulu, and you know, Amy Winehouse
Buy Endlessly from iTunes