By R. Sheffield



Sade has a lot in common with AC/DC. Both have spent long and glorious careers refining their signature sound, to the point where it's basically one song with different titles. They wait years between records, then deliver the same album they made last time — which means it's unimpeachably excellent. Neither gets caught doing anything stupid like trying a new hairstyle or making a Balearic dubstep record. They stick to their strengths. And they both sing about the tender emotions, from Sade's "Your Love Is King" to AC/DC's "Let Me Put My Love Into You."

Soldier of Love is the latest chapter in Sade Adu's incredible run as a mystery woman. Nobody knows where the hell she vanishes to between hits — maybe she has her own private island or something? But every time she returns, she brings another flawless collection of glossy Anglo-soul torch songs. She sings about the torments of love, yet never reveals a thing about her private life or personality. When she first appeared in 1985 with the "Smooth Operator" video, she sang with tears streaming down her regal cheekbones. But she never loses her cool. Compared to Sade, all other singers seem like hopeless little prissy drama queens.

Soldier is the first Sade album since Lovers Rock 10 years ago, which was her first since Love Deluxe eight years before that. Like those albums, Soldier is sumptuously melancholy, exquisitely beautiful R&B, perfect for crying on a very expensive sofa. She's been making hit records longer than anyone in the xx has been alive, yet she works in the same style: the hushed, voluptuous tones of heartbreak, reduced to a sexy-librarian whisper, with a very British sense of reserve.

The amazing title track is a ballad of utter emotional devastation, biting a hook from Kool Moe Dee's 1988 rap hit "Wild Wild West." The martial hip-hop beat stutters as Sade sings, "I'm at the borderline of my faith/I'm at the hinterland of my devotion." Her voice, as slinky and smoky as ever, has that instantly recognizable ache. The rhythms build the tension but never boil over, keeping you hanging on for a climax that never comes. It's classic Sade: a cool and collected song about falling apart.

Soldier sustains the mellow vibe for the whole album, with reggae-inflected melodies to suit the slow-motion lilt of "Morning Bird," "Bring Me Home" and "Skin." Part of her mystery is that she's kept the same lineup of musicians together for more than 25 years; nobody seems to know or care who they are, but Sade-the-band has the same light touch as Sade-the-singer, ensuring that each groove flows imperceptibly into the next. The only jarring moment is "Babyfather," which has an abrasive lyric about a broken family and an unusually cheery melody. Not to mention a hilariously English title.

It's hard to believe Sade is 51 — but then, she never seemed young. Even on her classic debut, Diamond Life, she played the role of the worldly, jaded dame who'd been burned too many times to care about sensitive hearts. Once her songs hit the radio, they never leave — you still can't wait in line at the drugstore without hearing "The Sweetest Taboo" or "Kiss of Life." Beloved by all, yet known to nobody, Sade just lets her mystique grow. Now that's a smooth operator.

So how does it compare to Elixer?

iloveannie said:

I prefer Elixer!

ok, i´m kidding. i haven´t listened to sade´s album yet. i will shortly even though i don´t like the first single.

but i like bria´s album. i do, so what!

RollingStone said:

love this line

from allmusic.com:

3 stars

Sade’s longest absence yet did not prevent their return from being an event. It at least seemed eventful whenever “Soldier of Love,” released to radio a couple months prior to the album of the same title, was heard over the airwaves. Even with its brilliantly placed lyrical allusions to hip-hop past and present and its mature sound, the single stuck out on stations aimed at teens and twentysomethings, as well as points on the dial that court an older audience. It was the most musical and organic, while also the most dramatic yet least bombastic, song in rotation. Crisp snare rolls, cold guitar stabs, and at least a dozen other elements were deployed with tremendous economy, suspensefully ricocheting off one another as Sade Adu rewrote “Love Is a Battlefield” with scarred, assured defiance. While the song was an indication of its parent album’s reliance upon organic instrumentation — the band’s use of synthesized textures and programming is greatly diminished — it merely hinted at the dark, even fatalist, depth of heartache conveyed throughout the set. On “Bring Me Home,” Adu is content in resignation (“Send me to slaughter/Lay me on the railway line”), while on “The Moon and the Sky,” she projects a bruised and angered bewilderment (“You lay me down and left me for the lions”). The focus at least switches temporarily to a loved one on “In Another Time,” in what resembles a love letter to (what is likely) a young daughter mistreated by members of both sexes (“Their whispers are hailstones in your face”; “Soon they’ll mean nothing to you”). Although the bleakness is tempered with themes of survival and recovery, and (just) one song that is truly sweet (“Babyfather”), a fair portion of the album’s lyrical content comes off as drained-sounding, only echoed with vanilla arrangements that are merely functional, restrained to a fault, greatly outstripped by “Soldier of Love.” Lacking rhythmic hypnotism and relatable most to those who are experiencing solitude created by romantic desertion, this is not your mother's Sade album.




love that bolded but. but that fits pretty much all Sade albums to a T, doesn't it? that and the line I quoted above from the Rolling Stone review encapsulates what's simultaneously awesome and tireseome about all Sade records, I think.

saw her on Letterman last night.

Honestly, found that track (although her voice is fully intact) horrible.

Hoping the full set is better....that song was really awful.

Identity said:

Note 2 Sade: watch a live Prince performance.....please.

She's also going to be on The View today!!!!

That's Sade, she's a smooth operator. What do you want her to do start shredding a guitar, and jump and down doing the housequake?

sistercool is back

much love 4 sade

I saw her perform on David Letterman last night. She is still awesome! Love her!!Queen of smooth and cool!! Love her style so much that when my niece was born in the mid 80s, my sister named her after Sade.


[Edited 2/10/10 8:23am]

Upcoming Television Appearances
Sade will be performing on the following upcoming television programs:

2/10 - The View

2/15 - The Ellen DeGeneres Show

2/16 - Jimmy Kimmel Live

2/20 - The Wanda Sykes Show

^

That clip is hot! She still exudes a sensual elegance and gracefulness that today's crop of young fake divas couldn't duplicate in 100 years.

Identity said:

What is the point of doing a song live if it sounds EXACTLY like the record?

I have just ordered her new cd, I hope it's as good as some of say it is.. I wasn't too impressed with the leading single though..

The performance delivers all that I expected and wanted. She weaves a spell, she sways and leads the band and pulls me in. She's Sade.

thedance said:

It is! I listened to it again in full yesterday as I was packing up my house. I loved every bit of it. There are a few different songs that what you're used to hearing from her, but for me it showed growth on her part. Hell, she even quotes "the wild wild west" a la Kool Moe Dee in "Soldier of Love". Fun little moment.

I'm still absorbing it...enjoying...do wish there were one or two more slightly uptempo/upbeat songs but it's standard Sade which is never a bad thing.

After 10 years can't Sade get a sticky?

Graycap23 said:

I agree, to an extent. If it's a 10 or 20 year old song. Or even halfway through a tour. But the song just came out. They haven't performed it a thousand times on tour or in rehearsal, so the standard album version is fresh and new to them. There is also the expectation that when you're on TV promoting an album with a performance that when you go to buy the album, what you heard in the performance is what you're going to get. A death-metal version with a Broadway dance routine and laser show probably isn't going to work in that regard.

errant said:

lol.....

I heard about half of the album while driving home in the crazy ass snow on my way home. I'm into it but it doesn't have really strong, catchy hooks. It's smooth....almost too much, but it's still Sade's strong vocals throughout. It's an event record and there are so few of them, I'm glad I bought it. I'll have to listen to it all the way through to say more.

Identity said:

boobs

her look & wardrobe are always impeccable

and i'm totally in love with the new record, start to finish.

.
[Edited 2/10/10 9:51am]

Ok, so I listened to this cd a few times and in summary I would say, if you are looking for that signature Sade, beat/funk/jazz sound you might be disappointed. However if you want to hear a more personal, deeper side of Sade pick this up. Yes it's still classic Sade but many of the melodies are on the slower soft side, (think Lover's Rock). However the lyrics are deep and the band sounds great as always. Even though there is still a mystery in knowing what she feels, to me this cd comes closer than any other, so I love it.
[Edited 2/10/10 10:01am]

Graycap23 said:

BlaqueKnight said:

I was disappointed.....

Rollingstones review:

my thoughts exsactly... after listening t the album a few more times. It is indeed a wonderful album. just had to grow on me a bit. there are a few classic on here.

The moon and the sky
soldier of love
long hard road
skin
in another time

my favorite artist (other than prince) is back and its great to see her singing
good looking good, and feeding my soul with her music again

Sade on ABC's "The View", Feb 10.

Graycap23 said:

I'm a big fan of Sade's music, but her live performances put me to sleep.

Sticky