“Whatever happened to singing songs?” wonders Daniel Merriweather, a genre-blending guitar player who is the newest Australian import to the New York music scene.

Merriweather has come a long way from a high school dropout working at Kentucky Fried Chicken while daydreaming about turning this music hobby of his into a career. As fate would have it, his demos got into the hands of acclaimed producer Mark Ronson who has worked with everyone from Jay-Z to Amy Winehouse. Intrigued by the 18-year-old kid with a grown-up’s voice, Ronson signed Merriweather to his label, Allido Records, and began the painstaking process that is an album.

Now 26, Merriweather, who looks like a cherub grown into a frat boy, sounds entirely more substantial. He has created a sound that encapsulates his diverse musical influences such as Elvis Presley, Boyz II Men, Jeff Buckley, Stevie Wonder, Radiohead and D’Angelo to name a few.

“I was always into anything that meant something vocally or if someone made a good sound with their voice,” he said. This folk meets funk with the base of the blues cannot be classified, which, to Merriweather, means success.

”I wanted to let go of genres and make an album of songs being played by good people. I wanted it to be a natural one, to innocently, maybe naively, find its own place.”

Varying between country on “Cigarettes” to a 70s-infused groove on ”Impossible”, Merriweather’s one constant is the strong emotive quality he tries to put into every song. “To summon emotion, it doesn’t always have to be complicated,” he said. ”You can say more with just a few words.”

Merriweather’s songwriting is concise. He’s a highlight for any eclectic music lover. Download “Water and a Flame,” featuring Adele.