by Susie Salva

Welsh native Duffy released her first U.S. single “Mercy” off of the “Rockferry” album on Mercy Records exploding on its way up to the Billboard Hot 100. “Mercy” was recently featured in a steamy scene on “Grey’s Anatomy” and it is the strongest track on the disc. Duffy, 23 has a soulful voice and retro feel encompassing Motown sounds reminiscent of Dusty Springfield.

This young woman has a fascinating history. Duffy was born and spent her childhood years in the north Wales coastal community of Nefyn, (population 2,550) a place too remote that the nearest record store was a bus ride away and only stocked Top 40 music. Having no CD collection of her own, her first real musical memory is of walking into the kitchen unannounced to find her mother and stepfather dancing to the sounds of Rod Stewart. The first steps she took towards defining her own personal identity came when she borrowed one of her dad’s VHS tapes of the ‘60s TV show, “Ready, Steady, Go!” It had the Beatles, the Stones, the Walker Brothers, Sandi Shaw and Millie singing “My Boy Lollipop”. Obviously this was an inspiration for her.

Former Suede guitarist and record producer Bernard Bulter says of this artlessness, “Duffy managed to grow up without any concept of what was cool or current, what she should or shouldn’t like, how to behave or even how to sing. For her, the trip to London was the stuff of fairytales.”

For her to produce her record it took two buses and then two trains and all day. Then she’d do the same in reverse to get home, playing the music she’d just made to old ladies she encountered on the journey. As a result, Duffy sings and acts completely unselfconsciously and from the heart.

Duffy was introduced to Jeannette Lee who, after hearing demos became the singer’s mentor and manager. For Duffy, to have not just a friend but also a point of safety and reference in the strange new world she found herself it was crucial to her own musical development and sense of self. Isolated, her muse was immaculately conceived and soulfully nurtured.

While Duffy has an extremely unusual background, what you can expect to find on this disc is a collection of original material, breathy vocals and arrangements inspired by the Dionne Warwick/Burt Bacharach collaboration. There is no doubt that there is irrefutable evidence of this new talent.

For more info on Duffy you can go to www.iamduffy.com or www.mercuryrecords.com and don’t for get to check out her "Mercy" Video.