I have to confess to being slightly bemused by Duffy’s rise to pop super-stardom. The singer undoubtedly has an excellent voice, and certainly looks the part thanks to her blonde hair and petite figure, but it’s somewhat surprising that her modest musical repertoire has enjoyed such massive popularity – three-and-a-half million album sales and counting.
Despite her impeccable vocals and obvious star quality (not to mention an impressive backing band), the weaknesses in Duffy’s music are all too apparent at this sold-out Olympia show. Essentially, her songs are conventional pop tunes given a degree of novelty by their retro production touches. Nowhere is this more apparent than on ‘Warwick Avenue’, which aspires to Bacharach-style pop classicism, but ends up sounding like a routine MOR ballad.
There are tantalising glimpses of Duffy’s potential, particularly on the irresistibly catchy ‘Serious’ which, tellingly, was co-written by Bernard Butler, who’s retained the flair for melody he demonstrated so strikingly in both Suede and McAlmont & Butler. Unfortunately, to judge from the new material Duffy plays tonight, it would appear that her second album is unlikely to mark an exciting new change in direction.
Having said all that, it has to be acknowledged that Duffy enjoys a tremendous crowd reaction throughout, with both ‘Mercy’ and the aforementioned ‘Warwick Avenue’ sparking mass singalongs. However, the young Welsh performer would benefit from taking a few creative risks. Perhaps she could learn a thing or two from the likes of Madonna, Beyoncé and Gwen Stefani, all of whom have proven that large-scale commercial success doesn’t necessarily preclude musical excellence.