Music Review

02 December 2008 01:53 BST

Duffy: Ready for the big time

Though she missed out on the top spot in the BBC's Sound of 2008 poll, Welsh chanteuse Duffy looks set for the top.

Following a perfect, subtle performance on BBC 2's Later With Jools Holland in November, Duffy was invited back for the show's New Year's Eve Hootenanny edition.

And while the 22-year-old was narrowly pipped to the BBC's 'next big thing' post by South London soul singer Adele, a public vote put Duffy at the top of the pile of artists likely to breakthrough in 2008.

Hailing from a small north Wales seaside town, Duffy knew from an early age that she wanted to be a singer, and in August 2004 she piqued the curiosity of Rough Trade's Jeanette Lee.

Lee became her manager and pointed Duffy in the direction of Crouch End in north London where the singer teamed up with Bernard Butler.

This collaboration saw the Welsh chanteuse honing her abilities over the next few years with sublime recent single Rockferry the result.

The song has been described by the Observer Music Monthly as having the ability to make the hairs on the back of your neck prickle with its bewitching grace.

Rockferry was a superb debut from a very capable musical talent who says of herself: "There's a side of me that's trying to hold it together but then there's a side of me that just wants to scream, run out on stage and say 'I'm here!'"

Duffy may very well get that chance when her UK tour kicks off next week.

She will play four dates at Pigalle in London on January 16th; 23rd and 30th; and February 6th. The tour then moves to Thekla in Bristol on February 21st.

On the 22nd Duffy performs at Manchester's Ruby Lounge; King Tuts in Glasgow on the 23rd; Cluny in Newcastle on the 24th; Brudenell Social in Leeds on February 26th and Cardiff’s Clwb ifor Bach on the 28th.

The tour continues in March with an appearance at Aberystwyth's Arts Centre on the 1st; Central Station in Wrexham (5th); Bodega Nottingham (7th); Oxford Academy (9th); Brighton's Komedia on the 10th and Birmingham’s Glee Club on March 11th.

Check out Duffy performing Warwick Avenue on Jools Holland



And here she is performing her upcoming single Mercy



Lee Davis