Daniel Merriweather - Love & War

Rating

: * * *

Verdict

:

A predictably polished debut off Mark Ronson's production line.

The past decade has seen a host of new wave soul divas emerge from the ether - first there was Joss Stone, then Amy Winehouse, then Duffy. Plus no end of pretenders who have tried to cash in on the old school revival.

But it's always been a woman's domain. The closest blokes have come to joining the genre are the smooth R&B rhymes of Pharrell and Ne-Yo. Until now.

Australian Daniel Merriweather has teamed up with Winehouse's producer Mark Ronson to create his polished debut Love & War. It begins with an Elton John-like piano ballad, For Your Money, accompanied by his slightly strained, bristling vocals.

Then there's the cool slide of an electric sitar on the 60s-soaked Impossible and the urbane Change, full of Ronson's signature big band arrangements and freestyles by rapper Wale.

It's diverse, yet cohesive, and undeniably catchy. But somehow it's not nearly as interesting as it should be.

Where Winehouse managed to take old school sounds and make them uniquely her own, Merriweather sounds like he is just imitating his old idols. There are moments of Elton John, Don McLean and Smoky Robinson, among others.

But there is nothing distinct about Merriweather's voice and you can't help but feel Ronson could have produced the same record with any number of singers.

Joanna Hunkin