Welsh singer Duffy is working with Roots drummer Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and veteran songwriter Albert Hammond Sr. on her sophomore album, Billboard.com can reveal.
A planned three-week session just got underway in New York, with Thompson and Hammond contributing both songwriting and production ideas. A source who has heard the early material says it "feels like it was born in 1963" and is much in the vein of the Dusty Springfield-inspired soul found on her smash 2007 debut, "Rockferry."
As previously reported, Thompson has also contributed to singer/songwriter Sara Bareilles' upcoming sophomore album for Epic. Hammond, whose is the father of Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr., is best known for penning such hits as "It Never Rains in Southern California" and "To All the Girls I've Loved Before."
The as-yet-untitled album is expected for release before the end of the year on Mercury. "Rockferry" won a Grammy for best pop vocal album and has sold 848,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
"Rockferry" was an even bigger hit in the United Kingdom, where it debuted at No. 1 on the album chart and spawned a massive single, "Mercy," which spent five weeks at the top.
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