A girl called Duffy

The pretty lady to your left is Duffy, a new singer/song-scribbler from north Wales. As you might have guessed, she likes to be known by her surname. "I was just introducing myself as Duffy and friends were calling me Duffy," she told DS recently. "It was never a conscious decision." Well, that's cleared that up.

Rock Ferry, the place, is an area of Birkenhead with a population of 13,676*. It's the home of the Royal Mersey Yacht Club, you know. 'Rockferry', the debut single from Duffy, is a stunning slice of pop melodrama produced by Bernard Butler from Suede. It's the sort of song Dusty Springfield used to call a "big ballady thing", and it's properly, goose-pimples-pop-up-on-your-arms-while-you're-listening brilliant.

"The song's not about the place geographically; it represents something other than that," Duffy impressed upon us. "It's all about struggle in your life – if you're working hard to get somewhere in your life, 'Rockferry' is that place." We hate to bring you down to earth a little, but there are two other places you might find 'Rockferry': iTunes and the 7" section of HMV. It's there now, in fact.

* According to the 2001 census.