A beat so springy it might as well be elastic. A bassline that’s subtle, even a bit understated for what the rest of the composition would typically call for. The voice that holds everything together like some sort of divine glue, sent from above to deliver Janet Jackson’s iconic harmony in a way that a millennial audience would be more inclined to connect with.
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This is Ronnue’s cover of “That’s the Way Love Goes,” and while it’s by no means the lone indie R&B single that you should be spinning in 2020, it’s got a provocative edge almost certain to leave discriminating listeners more than stimulated this season. If there’s one thing Ronnue is known for, it’s putting his own unique imprint on a relatively classic sound, and he manages to do that and a whole lot more in “That’s the Way Love Goes” whilst still maintaining the sonic integrities of the original version. He’s come a long way in a very short time as a professional recording artist, and here, he makes it clear that he has no intentions of backing down from the next challenge set before him – no matter what that challenge might be.
There’s a really soulful bend to the melody of this cover that simply wasn’t as obvious in the cosmetics of the Janet Jackson rendition, and while it might sound a little forced at the onset of the track, it’s something that slowly feels more and more natural as we get into the guts of the groove. There’s a lot less urgency here than there was back in 1993, and I get the vibe Ronnue went out of his way to ensure the background tension was extended as much as possible on the instrumental end. He wants us to feel the texture of the bass and the drums more than we do the tonal effectiveness of the guitar part, and it’s only when all of these elements come crashing into one another that he’s able to harvest the resulting chaos and utilize it as a canvas atop which to paint with his vocal. That’s smart recording, but more directly, it’s a really focused way of making a cover song that much more original.
Ronnue turns in another stone cold classic with the release of his new single and music video “That’s the Way Love Goes,” and though I doubt I’m going to be the only critic to say as much, I wouldn’t be surprised if this release were able to garner him some of the mainstream attention that evaded him with the released of his highly-acclaimed 2019 LP Introduction 2 Retro-Funk. Even in the most trying of times for the modern music industry, he’s showing a lot of consistency in “That’s the Way Love Goes” and chipping away at the overwhelming grip that commercial entities have had over the Seattle music scene with everything he can. I’ll be curious to find out what the next album sounds like, but until then, this is an ace preview.
Troy Johnston