Love & War [Audio CD] Merriweather, Daniel

You may already be familiar with the powerhouse pipes of Daniel Merriweather, the 27-year-old Australian who lends his old-soul voice to ?Stop Me? - an ingenious mash-up of The Smiths? ?Stop Me If You Think You?ve Heard This One Before? and The Supremes? ?You Keep Me Hangin? On? that appears on DJ/producer Mark Ronson?s eclectic album Version. The track soared to the top of the airplay charts in the UK in April 2007 and led the British press to tout Merriweather as an artist to watch.

Now Merriweather is making good on that promise and establishing himself as a singer, songwriter, and performer in his own right by stepping out with his own debut album, Love & War, which has already been tipped by Rolling Stone in the magazine?s Spring Music Preview as one of 2009 hottest albums.

?Working on ?Stop Me? planted this idea in my head that things don?t have to fit in the same box that they originally came in,? Merriweather says. ?On Love & War, it?s as if I took all of my influences, shook them up in a box, and came up with a bunch of songs that I think stand away from any one particular genre. I?m as inspired by Q-Tip and A Tribe Called Quest as I am by Vivaldi, Stevie Wonder, Jeff Buckley or D?Angelo. There are artists who are archivists-they make music directly derived from music they love. I make music by subconsciously blending things I?ve heard throughout my life.?

The result is an album that pulses with gritty hip-hop beats, ?60s soul keyboards and horns, warm textures of acoustic and electric guitar, and cinematic string arrangements, all anchored by Merriweather?s combustible vocals. Love & War is also a showcase for this young Aussie?s considerable songwriting talents. Merriweather wrote nearly every song on the album on acoustic guitar with various musician friends, and then presented his compositions to Ronson, who produced the album, and his backing band, The Dap-Kings (of Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, who also played on