WELSH soul songstress Duffy is back with her sophisticated second album.

Titled Endlessly, it is an album that could be described as a col-lection of tales of a heartbreak.

Inspired by the bouncy beats of the fifties and sixties, the distinc-tive spirit of love and romance is cast upon us with the engaging melody in Keeping My Baby, and the soul-sweeping Hard For The Heart.

Her new sin-gle, Well, Well, Well has an in-fectious groove that is com-plimented by punchy beats and a lively, energetic at-titude.

It was re-corded be-tween Lon-don and New York and co-written and p r o d u c e d by veteran songwr i t -er Albert Hammond.

Duffy’s sublime vocal talent shines through more than ever on tracks Too Hurt To Dance and Don’t Forsake Me.

Ballads Endlessly and Breath Away are the highlights of the album, showcasing sincere sub-tlety in the multi-platinum selling singer’s voice, illuminating her breath-taking delivery.

The classic melodic character-istics that led to the success of her debut album Rockferry are still present throughout Endlessly.

If you are one of Duffy’s devo-tees you will not be disappoint-ed.

This album is a moving piece of music. The combina-tion of Duffy’s mesmerising vocals and Hammond’s crea-

tive genius has led to an outstanding follow up for one of Britain’s most talented sing-ers.

By Iwona Wlodarczy

REMEMBER when the radio stations discovered Hey There Delilah and played it over and over and over again? Well Plain White T’s have come back to the UK for the first time since then, to prove they aren’t the one hit wonders everyone, but their loyal fan-base, think they are.

Formally their albums consisted mainly of pop-punk blasts. How-ever the first single from their sixth studio album is very distinct. Rhythm Of Love is a sunny, jangly, percussion filled track. It has a vibe perfect for next summer festivals.

Cirque Dans La Rue has a fan tastic cabaret feel, which is very fitting for the songs title. It is not unlike Panic At The Disco’s early mood.

Welcome To Mystery’featured on the Alice And Wonderland sound-track. The verses are a little eerie, with haunting keys and primitive wailing, ideal for the film.

Unfortunately, it is ruined by an uninventive and slow emo band chorus.

The album’s title track sounds like nostalgia soaked dreams of youth, and links back to the bands older material.

Wonders Of The Younger con-

tains an array of new sounds, whilst still holding on to the band’s previ-ous feel.

You kind of understand they still want to be considered mature art-ists, and a redeeming feature is their insistince to steer away from that whiny-emo-come-bubblegum punk sound (albeit bar one or two tracks).

If you are looking for something with a little more substance than your karaoked-out versions of Hey There Delihla, then this is probably the album for those of you who

have avoided the Plain White T’s so far.

With only a fistful of strong tracks, its not blinding, but it is cer-tainly a good effort, and makes for enjoyable listening.

By Kezia Coleman

ENTERTAINMENT18 Friday November 26- Thursday December 9 2010

MUSIC REVIEWS

THE Black Eyed Peas take us on a journey with their daring new album, The Beginning, putting a futureistic spin on their usual ‘hip-pop’ mainstream sound.

The album has an electro dance feel, and most of the songs are ob-vious club hits.

The third track Love You Long Time is reflective of this. Its robotic sound is genius and teenagers and young adults will definitely be able to relate to the lyrics.

As expected, we can finally be-lieve the hype which has been built up around this album.

Their first single, The Time (Dirty Bit), has seen the Peas sample the theme from the 1987 film Dirty Dancing, (“I’ve Had) The Time of My Life.”

Mottled with wild, augmented synth, the song’s funky-house beat keeps up with the times.

Fashion Beats on the other hand is a fusion between old-school hip-hop and the modern pop beat, prov-ing individual taste that, bought to-

gether, collectively still works.Furthermore, tracks like Do

It Like This and Just Can’t Get Enough, two of my personal fa-vourites, show they are anything but trying to abandon their classic sound.

The Peas may be kidding them-selves if they think they are push-ing any musical boundaries, but fusing a medley of genres shows they are looking to the future - and it totally works.

The final track suggests this al-bum is definitely The Best One Yet (ho ho ho), and I’m looking forward to see what these music masterminds are yet to bring to the table.

By Joanna Zambas

The Beginning will be released on November 30

The latest albums to hit our sound waves

THE PEAS PLEASE WITH AN ALBUM JAMMED WITH POP HITS

PLAIN WHITE WONDERFUL

6/10

8/10

8/10

DELIGHTFUL DUFFY

Wonders Of The Younger is out December 7

Endlessly is out November 29

The stylish group are back with avengeance with their fourth album Rex Features

Plain White T’s performing new material Rex FeaturesRex Features