Daniel Merriweather

Merriweather first turned heads outside his native Australia when Mark Ronson featured the blue-eyed soulster on a cover of the Smiths’ “Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before,” the lead single from Ronson’s 2007 debut album. The duo reteam for Love & War, and though the producer surrounds Merriweather’s passionate vocals with tasty retro-soul trimmings -- dig the Dap- Kings’ horn licks on U.K. pop hit “Change,” featuring Wale -- the material only intermittently makes a lasting impression.

By Mikael Wood