Findlay Brown Reflects on the Spirit of '60s Pop and His Letterman Debut

With the release of his sophomore album, 'Love Will Find You,' English singer-songwriter Findlay Brown stopped by Spinner's headquarters to discuss his musical direction and his recent visit to the 'The Late Show With David Letterman.' The album -- lush with full, Phil Spector-inspired production -- is a bit of a departure from Brown's last, which he describes as "glorified love letters to music." This time around, he didn't focus so much on the emotion behind the lyrics. Inspired by the sounds of '60s pop, what he really cared about was the general feeling of the music.

"It's kind of the spirit of that period, generally, especially in the music," Brown told Spinner. "I don't know if that's because of what was happening culturally and politically, but it's mainly American music that's influenced me from that period. You know, Motown, soul music, blues -- that period. It was a way of writing out the mundane way of living, the hardships. There's a real sense of joy in that music."

Watch Findlay Brown's 'Love Will Find You' Video

Brown treated the Spinner staff to a performance of a handful of his songs that he felt he could do justice playing on an acoustic guitar, sans a backing band -- including 'Teardrops Lost in the Rain,' 'If I Could Do It Again' and 'I Have a Dream.'

Though Brown now lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., he's spent most of his life in the U.K. As such, he doesn't get too fazed by big-time appearances -- like being booked as the musical guest on Letterman, for one -- that might make the typical American musician nervous.

"It's quite nice coming here and not having the sort of limitations in your mind of knowing what's a cool magazine or a cool radio station," Brown said. "You just turn up and go, 'All right. I'm here.' In the U.K., it's like you've lived with these magazines and you've got a relationship with it."

So the singer kept his cool about his 'Late Show' gig, for the most part ... that is, until he was actually on the set.

"As soon as I got there, I was like, 'Bloody hell. This is David Letterman.' There's Whoopi Goldberg in there. This is gonna go out to millions of people," Brown admitted. "That was a blast. It was a bit like jumping out of an airplane without a parachute. Luckily, I haven't hit the ground yet."