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Ernest may be on vacation with a finished deluxe album in the can, but it seems he has no intentions of taking a musical breather.
From the idyllic surroundings of St. Thomas, the ‘Flower Shops’ hitmaker posted a video of him covering Merle Haggard's iconic track, ‘That's The Way Love Goes’.
The US Virgin Islands have long been a muse for Ernest and his wife, Delaney Royer, with the singer-songwriter's debut album, Locals Only, drawing heavily on island-inspired themes and tropical stylistic influences.
In the clip, donning a blue denim shirt and his staple ball-cap, Ernest croons about finding himself in the throes of love (“I've been throwing horseshoes over my left shoulder/I've spent most all my life searching for that four-leaf clover/Yet you ran with me, chasing my rainbows/Honey, I love you too and that's the way love goes”.)
Ernest has carved out a path as country music's hopeless romantic, with his love-struck ballads rarely enjoying the happy ending that Merle's classic track portrays.
Ernest recently released three new songs, ‘Miss That Girl’, ‘Unhang the Moon’ and ‘Songs We Used To Sing’. They will feature on the singer-songwriter's upcoming deluxe album, Flower Shops: Two Dozen Roses, which is set to drop on February 10.
All three continue the original Flower Shops’ exploration of the aftermath of a break-up, with Ernest's protagonist usually accepting the blame for the relationship's collapse. This is epitomised on ‘Comfortable When I'm Crazy’, which was given an acoustic video towards the end of 2022, as part of Ernest's Salvage Sessions.
On Twitter, Ernest teased ‘one of his favourite songs’ from the upcoming deluxe album, called ‘What Have I Got To Lose’, co-written with Brian Kelley and legendary country songsmith, Dean Dillon.
Following his emotive cover of Merle's ‘That's The Way Love Goes’, fans will be watching out for more snippets and teasers from Ernest. Could his return to the US Virgin Islands inspire the reintroduction of the sun-soaked sound that pervaded Locals Only? We'll have to wait and see.
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