Album Reviews

Duffy `Rockferry' Universal

British soul singer Duffy continues to swirl a storm of retro soulful romance in the world pop scene, following in the footsteps of the multi-Grammy award-winning singer Amy Winehouse.

The title track and album opener, an atmospheric, slow-building and idiosyncratic song slides into a collection of original material that some might call retro mood.

Her soulful vocals reminiscent of Winehouse revive vintage soul, which was popular in 1960s.

The first single, contemporary-tinged ``Mercy'' used in a TV commercial, is gaining enormous popularity from Korean fans. Her other tracks such as ``Warwick Avenue,'' ``Stepping Stone,'' and ``Distant Dreamer'' present the 1960s retro feel to listeners.

-Chung Ah-young

Van Morrison `Keep It Simple' Lost Highway

To call music ``effortless'' usually is damning with faint praise, and those who use the term to describe Van Morrison's 35th album might have the word's negative connotation in mind.

But while Morrison's Celtic rhythm and blues now sound as familiar and off-the-cuff as a pub sing-along, there aren't many who can match his ease ― and certainly none with his gravely, from-the-gut voice.

At its best, ``Keep It Simple'' is a comforting dispatch from the fairyland where folky-soul Morrison masterpieces such as 1971's ``Tupelo Honey'' were born. The lilting ``That's Entrainment'' combines all Van the Man's signature moves, a journey into the mystic (specifically, the trance state created by song) on a melody as well-worn and timeless as a family heirloom. And if ``Don't Go To Nightclubs Anymore'' is a pale rewrite of Duke Ellington, it's still possible to admire the gently swinging arrangement.

-Dan LeRoy

Distributed by the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service

George Strait `Troubadour' MCA Nashville

George Strait has been a regular atop the country charts for more than 25 years, and the 55-year-old Texan sticks with simplicity in typically effective fashion on ``Troubadour,'' an unassuming marriage of mainstream hooks and western swing that makes the most of his time-tested method.

Strait is always at ease, a genial cowboy singer who plugs straight into mellowness on ``It Was Me.'' His plain-spoken way is as deceptively rich as the spacious, airy sonic designs over which he pours it, whether he is latched onto the breezy honky tonk of ``Make Her Fall in Love With Me Song'' or matching the sprightly energy of ``Brothers of the Highway.''

There are interesting twists, such as Strait's vocal balancing act with the soaring mountain flavor of Patty Loveless on the rock-laced ``House of Cash,'' but most of the set sticks closer to the stone country meditation of the title track.

-Thomas Kintner