One exposure to Duffy and you realize why the music industry it lining up to place bets on the UK export. She's basically Amy Winehouse for 2008, but blonder, brassier, a wee bit blander and, most importantly, probably not on the crack. Former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler plays the Mark Ronson role as producer, orchestrating an r&b sound that falls partway between retro and modern. Director Adria Petty handles the visuals with the same strategy that Butler did with the audio: Duffy and her band perform to a crowd of hipsters at a dark underground club that's both sexy modern and a throwback to the psychedlic multimedia happenings thrown by Andy Warhol. --> watch "Mercy" via MTV.com or YouTube
Duffy "Mercy" (Mercury/Island Def Jam)
Adria Petty, director | Francesca Barnes, producer | Harvest/Merge @ Crossroads, production co | Robin Frank Management, rep | Jake Polonsky, DP | John Gutierrez, editor