"The Way Love Goes" is the first single taken from British R&B singer Lemar's first compilation album The Hits. The song received a digital download release on 14 February 2010, while a physical CD was released the following day.
Background
Speaking to noted UK R&B writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning Blues & Soul, Lemar explained the background to 'The Way Love Goes': "With my 'The Hits' album being a celebration of what I've done so far as well as being a look into what I want to do in the future, I didn't want the first single to be too serious. So, while lyrically the topic of the song is love and there is a serious thread going through it, sonically I wanted the actual track to be light-hearted, upbeat and different to what some people have become accustomed to from me. You know, after songs like 'If There's Any Justice' and 'It's Not That Easy', I think people just got used to hearing me in that very old skool soul style and maybe forgot about earlier songs like 'Dance ' and '50/50'. So, with 'The Way Love Goes', I just wanted to flip it and to show people there is another side to me - as well as coming with a live upbeat track to help create a celebration-type vibe for the album."
Critical reception
Fraser McAlpine of BBC Chart Blog gave the song a positive review stating:
OK, I give in. King Cnut had to find out his limits the hard way and so, it seems, do I. If a man with a singing voice of as unmistakably high a quality as Lemar's can resort to a bit of autotune, everyone else might as well opt for a robo-tracheotomy and have done with it. At least he's using it well, following the Cher model, where you slightly and subtly androiderise your all-too meaty voice so that it sits better among the unyielding electronica. It's a bit like having a USB port soldered into your neck. Slightly painful, but a useful way to get two different operating systems to interface effectively*. The other model is to use it as a kind of robo-polyfilla, where all vocal cracks are given a smooth metallic outer coating because the voice inside would simply collapse without it. If asked, all singers and producers will claim that this model does not actually exist, and that they are all dabbling with this hot new production technique for genuine artistic reasons. And because everyone else is. The song was awarded a 4 star.
"The Way Love Goes" first entered the UK Singles Chart on 21 February 2010. The single peaked at #8, his first Top 10 single since "It's Not That Easy" in 2006. It became Lemar's seventh Top 10 single. The following week, the single dropped 10 places to #18, meaning it only spent 1 week in the UK Top 10. On 7 March 2010, the single dropped a further 13 places to #32. The following week, the single fell to #33, meaning the song has spent a total of 4 weeks in the UK Top 40 as of 14 March 2010.
