Beautiful Voice But In Need Of Advice
This piece opens with a piano line that is a definite throwback to an American honky-tonk paradise, but with a percussive element oddly resembling The White Stripes' use of piano. The vocals come in and we hear a voice that is deliciously saccharine and capable of some startling depth, but, there is an uncertainty to the genre she's aiming for: she fits in a little with rock and a little with country. Actually, a lot with Southern rock, which is made crazier by the fact that she's English. The piece is brutally commercial, though, and feels fake.
The song is essentially slow rock made listenable by the strength of Duffy's vocals. It suffers heavily from over-production, which is evidenced by the choral 'oohs' and 'ahhs' that chime in throughout the performance, and the perfection of the instruments. I've always been of the opinion that if the vocals are perfect, the instruments should be slip-shod so we have something noteworthy to confuse us and capture our hearts.
As is, 'Rockferry' feels like a soulless studio piece released to garner attention for a vocalist too young to know when to tell her producer "no, I want to play the guitar/piano myself while I sing, and I'll choose which version we take." The lyrics need a re-think as well, because the slow pace of the song makes listening to the word raaaahhhckferrrryyyyy more than a little tiring.
Why can't she sing about the intricate details of her transition from the present tense to her future tense residence in 'Rockferry'? Duffy, I want to hear about what you packed for lunch. How it feels to change your bank branch and to cancel your mailing address and change phone numbers.
It sounds stupid, but the goofy details are where all the bittersweet aspects of humanity are located. You've got the universal down, now try for the specific. If I heard your voice singing about how much coffee you've drunk while you wait for the train, I'd feel so much more intensely connected to you than hearing you emote about building a house out of sorrow. Houses aren't made of sorrow, they're made of wood and nails by people who experience sorrow. We can't connect to you if you only sing about abstract qualities, all we can achieve contact with is an abstraction controlled by a studio trying to make money out of the broadest possible spectrum of your culture. Sing yourself to us. Your voice is beautiful. And go lo-fi.