Soldier of Love review

A pause lasting… ten years!

This has finally happened! The R&B veterans, Britain-based outfit Sade, did deliver one more studio effort. It is almost eternity that lies between this release and the previous album, Lovers Rock (2000). Might be that the amazing band’s followers did spend eternity waiting for this sacred day. On the other hand, they should have been ready for that. Sade make their albums according to a very specific schedule; and you never know when they will be through with their next record. Indeed, within the last twenty years, the British R&B stars have released only three long-players. And you are wrong if you think the reason for that is a packed concert timetable and an endless festival streak. The true reason is that the ensemble’s leader, singer Sade Adu is a very peculiar person who needs a hard-to-reach soul condition to do music; and this inspiration sometimes takes years to find. So, now, that many assumed Sade had finally vanished off the stage, the band surfaced all of a sudden with the sixth album, Soldier Of Love.

Soldier Of Love: a different music from the same Sade

The first thing to say is that the Sade music, once and long ago established as R&B, in fact goes far beyond the boundaries of the genre. There is no surprise that the new album’s material has many things not be found on the previous works by the British musicians. The very first composition, the impressive The Moon And The Sky, is a full demonstration of that as it is opened with a guitar intro so strange for the band’s manner. However, the following track, the title song Soldier Of Love, begins with a drumbeat taking us right to the battle field, and reminds us of the band’s classical hits. It is very likely that it will become the CD’s trademark. After that, Sade carefully cross the line and step into the realm they did not search before. Long Hard Road features Sade’s vocals that bring some associations with spiritual; while Be That Easy is a tribute to the country music. It is amazing how inconspicuous nuances diversify Sade’s sounding and widen their stylistic horizons. In the meantime, the singer does a tremendous job putting her soul and heart into every verse and word. If Soldier Of Love is the beginning of a story, The Safest Place is a perfect logical conclusion of it. Thus, on listening to this record, you do not feel that the musicians have kept something in secret, or, visa versa, said too much to bore you with something that should not be here.

A masterpiece every ten years?

The Sade’s new record lasts less than forty three minutes and includes ten tracks. This means that the band could not alternate good songs with mere fillers as the listener does not have much music left to enjoy. Anyway, you may forget to worry about improper compositions on the CD. Soldier Of Love is a powerful work whose parts can and should be taken as a whole. From the beginning of the first track up to the ending of the last one, it is a top quality piece of music crowned by Sade’s vocals. Those who adore the British band’s old albums like Promise (1985) or Stronger Than Pride (1987), will find here something that will please them too. You have to admit, the Sade’s fresh long player is far from continuation of what was sung and played on those CDs. Yet the band was courageous enough to add new elements to the music; and it was done so skillfully that the classic sound of Sade’s was not harmed. It became more diversified, interesting; and everything that fascinated the British ensemble’s old supporters is still preserved here. In a word, the record where love is another was and a broken hearts is another soldier to die there is a complete success. Will this be another ten-year waiting?