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.
When Sade’s sixth studio album Soldier of Love finally makes it way to release in the early weeks of next year, it’s arrival will mark ten looooong years since the release of the band’s last studio effort.
Now, we’ve come to expect long hiatuses between projects when it comes to this crew (if you recall eight years flew by before they followed up the “No Ordinary Love”-housed Love Deluxe with 2000’s Lovers Rock), but AN ENTIRE DECADE!?!…that just ain’t right.
Thankfully, Sade have opted on teasing their new release a couple of months early with today’s premiere of it’s first single/ title track, a slow-burning concoction about getting through heartbreak (“I’ve lost the use of my heart/ But I’m still alive”, Sade Adu opens, her dead-eyed tone still as piercingly chilled as we last remembered) that’s sparked by militaristic drum rolls, jagged electric guitar stabs, rousing background vox support and a “wild wild West” line that’ll surely draw smirks from those who perceive it as a shout-out to Kool Moe Dee.
Though it features a couple modern-ish production elements, longtime fans needn’t worry: “Soldier of Love” doesn’t try to re-write the cool Sade sound too dramatically, managing to perfectly fit side-by-side with the rest of the band’s much-adored nocturnal-soul catalogue.
Add Sade to the list of acts taking waaaaayyyy too long to drop something new. It’s been nine long years since the soft-singing British beauty and her backing gang of sophisticated soundmen gave us Lovers Rock and we’re long overdue for some new material. Perhaps feeling the same kind of desirous pangs, female emcee (remember those?) Mae Day has dipped into the Sade catalog for her tributing mixtape Cherish The Day, which finds her lacing adored classics like “Is It A Crime?” and “No Ordinary Love” with her own lyrical spin for some quite soothing results.
On project highlight “Sweetest Taboo”, Mae twists Sade’s sensual 1985 Valentine of the same name to back her own romantic worshiping. “Swear you compare to a new drug/ That’s why/ Need a hit of you, weed will never get me high,” the Detroit femcee rhymes in a gentle flow that perfectly rides the sampled original’s still-illustrious candlelit groove (causing one to fiend for a Floetry comeback along the way).
Set the Valentine holiday mood right and pick up the rest of Cherish here for FREE.
As nice as it is to get free music, think of how much better your soul would feel if you purchased it the old-fashioned way.
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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.
When 
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