mixtape maestro (2.0)

While most of Sade‘s unsurprisingly exquisite (and equally unsurprisingly pre-leaked) comeback platter Soldier of Love lands as the go-to soundtrack for one to drown all their post-break-up sorrows to (the bleak scenario of having to let go of a lover you’re nowhere near ready to be separated from is one of it’s main recurring themes), it doesn’t completely reside in the land of heartache and woe.

Four tracks in, the band offer a welcome flash of optimism with album highlight “Babyfather”, a touching mother-to-child ode in which Miss Adu is found reassuring her daughter that she’ll always be her father’s blue-ribbon prize.

Coasting upon a gentle, reggae-lite lilt (which like the single “Soldier of Love”, registers as an immediate surprise for how unlike a typical Sade joint it sounds), the song opens with Sade narrating a “love at first sight” scene between two strangers at the bus stop. Eventually we learn that she’s describing to her daughter how her parents first met, leading to heart-tugging lines “And so love grew a flower/ And that flower was you”, “Your daddy knows you’re a flame” and “Your daddy love come with a lifetime guarantee”.

Shades of darkness do surround “Babyfather” as it’s central theme brings about tabloid-y-like inquiries of whether or not we’re dealing with a woman doing her best to try to make up for a father’s absentee-ism, but it’s hard to let such seriousness get you down when your heart is too busy melting to “Babyfather”‘s overall sweet-cored sunniness, especially once the out-of-nowhere children choir start piping in their own paternal adoration towards the song’s end.

Soldier of Love drops February 9th.

“Babyfather”:

Bonus DL: Sade “King of Sorrow (Fun Lovin’ Criminals Remix)” (alt)