Watch: Daniel Merriweather's 'Red' music video

Aussie singer impacts U.K. charts, preps 'Love & War' U.S. release

By Katie Hasty Monday, Jun 15, 2009 5:24 PM

Daniel Merriweather

Credit: Max Dodson

We first heard from Australian-born neo-soul singer Daniel Merriweather on Mark Ronson's groundbreakin 2003 album "Here Comes The Fuzz." Well, here comes smooth-voiced singer's debut album, "Love & War," due some time this fall via J/Allido, Ronson's impring. The set is already burning up the U.K. album chart this week at No. 2.

The first look us Yanks get is "Red," video below. In a world where R&B lyrics regularly fall prey to tired cliches and soulless love-language tripe, "Red" has gorgeous words, which Merriweather delivers with sentiment and talented excitement. Listen for contributions from guitarists Sean Lennon and Harper Simon, son of Paul. Vocally, Merriweather readily evokes Stevie Wonder.

As for the rest of "Love & War," the set will be highlighted by collaborations with Ronson and Merriweather's backing band, brain-breaking ensemble The Dap-Kings.

Check out the video, and feel nostalgic for the classic R&B split-screen video effect:

The tracklist for "Love & War" is as follows:

"For Your Money"
"Impossible"
"Change" (featuring Wale)
"Chainsaw"
"Cigarettes"
"Red"
"Could You"
"Not Giving Up"
"Getting Out"
"Water And A Flame" (featuring Adele)
"Live By Night"
"Giving Everything Away For Free"

Katie Hasty
Managing Editor

After five years as a columnist and editor at Billboard, Katie Hasty joined HitFix in 2009 for music and film reporting out of New York. The Midwest native has worked as a writer, music promoter and in A&R since 1999 and performs with her band Numbers And Letters.