Duffy, ''Rockferry'' (Mercury) Duffy's debut album could slip in between Dionne Warwick and Dusty Springfield on a collector's shelf, but the 23-year-old pop-soul ingénue says she developed her sound without hearing either artist.

Still, the singer-songwriter, who grew up in a remote Welsh village where top-40 music ruled, embodies the style and substance of a classic '60s soul diva. She co-wrote each of the ten tracks on ''Rockferry,'' an album all about old-fashioned heartbreak. On the title track, Duffy has ''a bag of songs and a heavy heart.'' She tells a lover they're finished in the sparsely arranged ''Warwick Avenue,'' bemoans his lack of attention in ''Hanging On Too Long'' and tries to keep herself from the arms of a cheater in ''Stepping Stone.''

She knows she's a fool in love and pleads for compassion on the super-catchy single, ''Mercy.'' Duffy taps into her inner Aretha Franklin on the electro-tinged tune, begging for mercy over a bouncy chorus of yeah, yeah, yeahs. While none of the album's other songs are as punchy or up-tempo and this toe-tapping track, Duffy delivers a solid, soulful debut with the same retro appeal and promise Amy Winehouse generated with 2006's ''Back to Black.''

''Rockferry'' only lags on its final tune - ironically the album's most positive. A soaring anthem about life's possibilities laid over an orchestral backdrop, ''Distant Dreamer'' sounds like the theme song for a cheesy children's film.

By SANDY COHEN AP Entertainment Writer

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