(July 26, 2024) Jarrod Lawson and Raquel Rodriguez coming together on the excellent ballad “Next Move” makes sense. This collaboration has an air of inevitability because they share a love of classic R&B. Lawson’s remakes of “Footsteps In the Dark” and the jazzy, acoustic reimagining of “The Ex Factor” won him a bunch of fans who were not acquainted with Bespeak Love, his compilation album with a group of Portland R&B artists, or his two solo albums.
In addition to her very good album Sweet Side, Rodriguez explored 1970s soul on Sunday’s Best and Sunday’s Best Vol. II, two EPs where she did loving renditions of songs like “Natural High” and “You Are Everything.”
Lawson and Rodriguez must have known they were musical kindred spirits. The two had a two-day recording session, and that is where “Next Move” was recorded. The work Rodriguez and Lawson did in the studio remained on Lawson’s mind, and he decided to fully develop the song. “We got to work, refining and shaping the song, and voila – ‘Next Move’ finally became a thing”. And what a thing “Next Move” is.
The duet has a smooth, mid-tempo groove that brings to mind some of the great ballads from the much-loved 1990s R&B era. “Next Move” tells the story of a guy catching the eye of a young lady who just moved into the neighborhood. Her interest is reciprocated, but it seems that neither one of them wants to be the first to say hello. Rodriguez’s buttery voice meshes well with Lawson’s powerfully husky baritone on a song that captures the insecurity that often delays a love connection. Check it out here.
By Howard Dukes