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From his massive hit ‘Uptown Funk’ with Bruno Mars or an incredible cover of The Zutons’ ‘Valerie’ with the late Amy Winehouse (whose final album ‘Back to Black’ Ronson also co-produced with Salaam Remi), Ronson has shown a knack for using the sounds of the past to produce huge tunes for the present. And what pop artist could be more interesting to work with today than RAYE?
‘Suzanne’ is classic Ronson. The track is a classic pop-soul cut that feels right out of a classic 60s album, but cleaned up with modern production. The song gleams in its high fidelity of sound. Not a single instrument feels neglected in its mix placement. Ronson and co-producer Tommy Brenneck clearly put a great deal of care into the sound of the song on a technical level, as is to be expected at this point in Ronson's career.
The real shining light on ‘Suzanne’ is of course RAYE and her achingly beautiful voice. While the singer-songwriter has dabbled in throwback tunes before, most notably in the big band jazz final act of her huge, multi-part single ‘Genesis.’ from last year, here RAYE fully sinks into the soulful sound of the track. As her vocals layer on top of each other in the chorus and during the second verse, the artist grabs hold of the listener's attention for the duration of the track with ease. Not since ‘Uptown Funk’ has a vocalist so perfectly fit into the kind of music that Ronson has spent his entire year replicating and refining.
Alongside the release of the single, a music video for ‘Suzanne’ was launched, directed by Swiss filmmaker Theodor Guelat. The video is a perfect accompaniment to the track as it blends the filmmaking techniques of 60s and 70s art films with in-studio footage of Ronson and RAYE. The colour grading lends it a warmth that matches the feel of the song in all of its soulful comfiness.
