Duffy is arguably the most anticipated artist of 2008, and her debut album “Rockferry” is a gem of a masterpiece. The title track and album opener is as atmospheric, slow-building and idiosyncratic a song as you could hope for, leading into a collection of original material that some might call retro, but Duffy herself prefers to identify her music as classic. The arrangements are as sparsely effective as those against which Dionne Warwick told her Bacharach & David-wrought tales of heartbreak in the early 1960s. There are also lush choruses and swooning hooks (as perfected by Dusty Springfield and various distinguished others).

“Rockferry” is irrefutable evidence of a significant new talent, and one that has developed in splendid isolation, not in reaction to market forces or the input of focus groups and industry experts. Duffy is the real, unspoiled original deal. “People keep asking me where my voice comes from and the fact is, I don’t know,” says the brightest new star of 2008. “Why are your eyes the colour they are? It’s no answer at all but it’s the only one I have.”

Disc 1