More Blue-eyed Soul!
Nse Ette | Lagos, Nigeria | 06/02/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Looking for some retro Soul Motown/Philly style? Look no further than Daniel Merriweather's solo debut "Love & War".
Produced by Mark Ronson (Amy Winehouse, Adele, Kaiser Chiefs), there are horns, organs, and harmonies a plenty. Daniel was the vocalist on Ronson's 2007 hit "Stop me", and if you liked that, there's more where that came from.
Opening cut "Impossible" is a horn drenched soulful number that sounds like some lost Motown classic. "Could you" is a beautiful sunny song that cleverly nicks its chorus from The Mamas and The Papas "California dreaming" to very good effect. My favourite!
Lead-off single "Change" is a groovy upbeat Hip Hop tinged song with a rap from Wale and lyrics taking a look at the state of the world. "Not giving up" is a bouncy Motown-style number, while the bonus track "You don't know what love is" is funky.
For ballads, we have the piano driven "For your money", the absolutely incredible "Water and a flame", a Jazzy duet with a very Amy Winehouse-sounding Adele (and my other favourite). Others are the acoustic "Red", the soulful "Live by night", the Gospel-tinged "All of the people" with wonderfully layered harmonies ("Invade them then cheat them, talk about freedom, and that's how the West was won" go the lyrics in part), and the beautifuly wistful "Giving everything away for free".
Daniel is definitely one to watch!"