C’batch finally lets a 26-year-old song find its shape on 'I Guess You Want It This Way'

There's something genuinely thrilling about hearing an idea survive for more than two decades and still come back with this much life in it. And on his new release 'I Guess You Want It This Way', C’batch takes a song first conceived roughly 26 years ago and transforms it into a six-part celebration of memory, reggae, musical curiosity and unfinished business finally completed.

Encouraged by his wife Yvette to explore reggae, C’batch first began shaping the song years ago, but the original version never quite felt complete. What did endure was the hook, along with a verse melody that simply refused to disappear.

Returning to it in 2026 proves inspired. Here, the producer gives it six separate lives, allowing reggae to remain at the centre while soul, R&B and contemporary production ideas reshape the surrounding landscape. The repetition becomes part of the appeal, as each interpretation offers another angle on a melody that has already spent decades evolving in the artist’s imagination.

The dedication to Ernest Ranglin adds even more heart. C’batch’s 2001 meeting with the Jamaican guitar legend clearly left a lasting impression, and the tribute feels entirely natural for an artist whose own musical history has always crossed between styles.

'I Guess You Want It This Way' is warm, inventive and deeply personal, but more than anything, it feels alive. After 26 years, C’batch has given the song the kind of second life most compositions never get.