Endlessly
Duffy
By far the most successful act to have emerged from the post-Winehouse vogue for female blue-eyed soul singers, Duffy follows her BRIT and Grammy-award-winning debut, Rockferry, with Endlessly, another collection in thrall to the sounds of black American 1960s pop.?
?Everything about it is knowingly, lovingly retro. From the album cover, on which she looks like a sugary French Yé-Yé chanteuse, to the short running time and roughly 50/50 balance of ballads and upbeat poppers, this could be a lost curio from 1963 were it not for some tell-tale signs of modernity. ? ?But in striving for period legitimacy, Duffy and her co-writer/producer Albert Hammond (whose many hits include The Air That I Breathe for The Hollies and his own The Free Electric Band) are too often confined by their influences: much of their material sounds authentic but insubstantial.
?In its favour, the album boasts rich, crisp production values, immediately apparent on opener My Boy, one of the few songs to sound as though it emerged from the 21st century. And yet despite its squelching synths it’s essentially an update of the classic girl group sound, a template which dominates throughout the album.
Bathed in strings, the heartache ballads, Too Hurt to Dance and Don’t Forget Me, are most obviously indebted to the pre-Beatles era. Pleasingly derivative, they showcase Duffy’s distinctive voice to the best of its abilities. On the more strident material, however, her mannered Ronnie Spector-isms tend to grate: witness the mechanically catchy single, Well, Well, Well, featuring the rhythm section from The Roots.? ?Branching out from her 1960s haven into the unexplored futuristic mania of the 1970s, Keeping My Baby is the sort of coquettish ersatz disco latterly peddled by Kylie Minogue. Replete with vinyl crackle, the title-track is a passable variation on a soul-pop ballad written countless times before, while the simple circular melody of banally philosophical closing track, Hard for the Heart, unconsciously borrows from Coldplay’s The Scientist.
?Ironically, the best song is the most throwaway. A catchy bubblegum skank featuring kitschy pizzicato strings, Girl is preferable to Duffy and Hammond’s more earnest exercises in pastiche.? ?Though not without its charms, Endlessly is too slight and uneven to impress unconditionally. On paper, it makes sense to align Duffy with a craftsman of Hammond’s calibre: after all, she is fundamentally a purveyor of commercial pop. But their collaboration reaps only minor rewards.
Reviewed by Paul Whitelaw
the best *_*
didn't deserve to flop [13]
Too Hurt to dance <3
:P
The cover picture is fuc*n perfect [5]
The cover picture is fuc*n perfect [4]
didn't deserve to flop [12]
amo amo amo amo muito ♥♥♥
Not nearly as good as Rockferry but it isn't terrible either, definitely underrated.
The cover picture is fuc*n perfect [3]
1.004.303 reproducciones :D
didn't deserve to flop [12]
Absolutely deserved to "flop" or whatever..
didn't deserve to flop [11]
didn't deserve to flop [10]
I wonder why it didn't perform well. It is even better than Rockferry
muito bom
I didn't like it as much as rockferry but c'mon, it wasn't THAT bad. It wasn't bad at all!
like it
The cover picture is fuc*n perfect [2] and I love the entire photoshoot!
didn't deserve to flop [9]
didn't deserve to flop [7] I like this album...
The cover picture is fuc*n perfect
so fucking underrated
bmoregirl28, Screamlook, firewolf78 e 34 outras pessoas adicionaram Duffy – Breath Away aos favoritos. ontem à noite *--*
Well, Well, Well <3
I don't like this album too much... disappointing after being in love with Rockferry :(
Very underrated. Really great.
didn't deserve to flop [6] The album is amazing i don't understand...
Flopou,mas é um bom cd!
didn't deserve to flop [5] Disgustingly underrated
Hard For The Heart ♥
Brigitte Bardot-like cover picture
Lovely. <3
Se parar pq não vendeu,perde um fã!
<3
didn't deserve to flop [5] :)
didn't deserve to flop [4] :)
Não merecia o flop [3]
Não merecia o flop mesmo.
Não merecia flop
Too hurt to dance. :( <3
she is so pretty on the cover omg.
The album is perfect :)
♥
beautiful - wish i could love the entire album
Looks like a Virgin advert.
Fácilmente um dos melhores CDs do ano...
É bom, mas enjoativo.
Her voice on this beautiful album is perfect.