Earlier this week, Raye said she is no longer letting those Amy Winehouse comparisons intimidate her, just in time for her to drop a song with frequent Winehouse collaborator Mark Ronson. Just as Winehouse teamed up with Ronson in 2007 for a cover of the Zutons’ “Valerie” (utterly hijacking the song from them for all time in the process), Raye and Mark’s collab is a brassy soul song named after a woman. This time around, it’s “Suzanne.”
In the song, Raye describes the titular muse, who might just be a metaphor for the English countryside: “Eyes are like the ocean, her nails are painted green / A cigarette in her mouth, and she mouths, ‘Hey, dear, how you been?’ / Grey skies out the window, but she’s a summer breeze / Come and set the tone, I dare, come and sit down next to me, Suzanne.”
The duo was paired up, funnily enough, by Audemars Piguet, leading to an intriguing coincidence. The brand tapped Raye as an ambassador after her massive 2024 BRIT Award wins; Ronson was already partnered with the brand. After they completed “Suzanne,” they later learned that a descendant of both of the brand’s founding families was named Suzanne Audemars. The track was debuted in a showcase at London’s 180 Studios, celebrating AP’s 150th anniversary.
