I really like the new single! Lovers Rock was a good CD, but I was a little disappointed by it. I didn't care for the most recent Sweetback CD either, but I love Sade, so I had high hopes for the new project.

Anxiously waiting for February...

this is stunning.

You can hear it here:
http://concreteloop.com/2...er-of-love

Love the new single! It's a bit different for her, a little funky but still has that smooth Sade vibe. Love it! My heart is racing... can't wait for this cd!

I LOVE EVERY PULSE OF THIS SONG !!!! EXHALT THE QUEEN RECIEVE HER AND BOW

Sade ages gracefully with haunting new single "Soldier of Love"

All of you aging pop divas who are zipping past forty and trying desperately to put a screeching halt to the inevitable aging process: TAKE NOTES. Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson and Toni Braxton, this means you. Sade has released a timeless new single "Soldier of Love," which finds the singer lamenting the arduous and trying nature of love and relationships. It's a much more mature, poetic version lyrically of Jordin Sparks' "Battlefield," which also compares love to war.

The most impressive thing about "Soldier of Love" is how Sade manages to make it sound thoroughly consistent with the sound she has crafted over her 20+ years in the music industry and yet also layer it on top of a modern sounding beat. This isn't recycled material, "Soldier of Love" is Sade filtered through a modern lens. She switches up the beat with some techniques popular in today's music scene. For example, at one point she breaks out in a chanting, hand clapping segment pronouncing victory, "I am lost but I don't doubt, So I rise, I have the will to survive." The raise your hands to sky moment feels almost "Halo"-like. The spare taps of the drum march the song forward as Sade's husky voice weaves through the instruments, reflecting on her battle wounds. Everything about this song is a winner. It's mood music with a pulse.

Sade has thankfully not fallen for the trap that her peers have fallen for in attempts to stay relevant to new generations. Sade didn't call up Timbaland or Lil' Wayne for a future. Sade isn't catering to the club hood rats, trying to make you shake your tail feather. She's sensual with her voice, she's not squeezing herself into the tightest, littlest outfits, trying to out shake Beyonce in "Video Phone." Sade is doing what Sade has always done: Moving your mind, body and soul with her music. And the formula isn't rocket science. Compelling lyrical content + a sound that isn't dated + a decent voice is a solid strategy for musicians in their 40s. Singing about being "heavy like a first-day period" at that age is just evidence of stunted growth.

http://mog.com/blog_post/...86/1633410

mimi07 said:

I love the song. Great review. I felt the same way when I heard the song. She is still the Sade we know, yet sings over a modern beat. The words of the song fits the sign of the times, no pun intended.

I love that pic of her with the jewelry on her neck. She looks like a Massai Queen.

Can't wait for the album and a tour.
[Edited 12/8/09 17:03pm]

I like it!
Sounds to me like Sade in an Embrya state of mind. That's a great thing. Imo

Different yet familiar.

daPrettyman said:

its just alright

after repeated listens of the song, i think it´s merely ok, nothing exceptional

so after all, prince do not have to listen to brias cd anymore

She is downright stunning.

I love Sade, but I don't like her new single..

trickster said:

Can you imagine that P launched Elixir (with that tacky cover) to "replace" a long awaited sade album... not even close.

well, a few songs on Elixir are more listeneable than this first single from Sade, iMo

garganta said:

just having listened to the single I must say that it will not be my favorite Sade song, but the arrangements are more interesting then anything on elixir, and frankly, it has more tension than much on MPLSound.

I heard Soldier of Love on the radio today!!!

Did u guys watch Wanda Sykes' show this weekend? She discussed Sade's new song/album.

http://www.fox.com/fod/pl...p?sh=wanda

I saw this and totally agreed with everything Wanda said. So excited for real music from a class act! Wanda may even get Sade to come to the show because her first US television appearance when Lovers Rock came out was on the Chris Rock show. Since her and Chris are friends....you never know!

I like the single, although I find the production a bit 'busy' with the military-style drums and the guitar chopping in and out, and the vocals quite low down in the mix. I think it's best from about two-thirds of the way through, where the guitar drops out. There's a bit more space in the track then, and it can 'breathe' a bit.

Works as a lead single, though, I reckon. I'm excited to hear the rest of the album.

deebee said:

deebee...U nailed it....

There are times during the song that I appreciate the staccato nature of the drums and the backing of the guitar to lift the beat.....but for me the guitar is "slightly" overbearing at times.....the novelty almost wears off after U hear it a few times...

deebee said:

I totally agree with you.
However, that borderline-overproduced sound "works" for me. I think that it'll be one of those songs that after the 1,000th time you hear it you still find something new about it.
Yeah, I'm very excited to hear the album.

I have never understood the fanbase of Sade. I have never been a fan. Not that I hate her and her music, but it just does nothing for me. One of my friends is so happy she's putting something new out, lol.

grethomory said:

I was like that until I read the lyrics to her 3rd album (Stronger Than Pride). I then fell in love with her. I don't consider myself a "mega-fan", but I love her music and buy all of her stuff.

grethomory said:

It's ok to be indifferent about certain artists and music styles.

Variety is the spice of life, right?

BTW: many of people feel the same way about Prince. MANY, MANY, MANY people!!!

Still diggin the new track.
The more I hear "Soldier of Love" the more I want to hear Amy Winehouse do a version and the more I want to hear Sade do a version of "Some Unholy War".

PurpleJedi said:

OUCH!!!