Soldier is sumptuously melancholy, exquisitely beautiful R&B,
perfect for crying on a very expensive sofa….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–Rolling
Stone Magazine
It begins with a mournful guitar melody. The
notes float over strings and waves of ambient tones. A high-pitched
keyboard whistle is delicately brushed into the soundscape. The bass
dips and locks into a deep, slowly undulating rhythm. Then, that
unmistakable voice peers through, like amber piercing midnight blue.
The song is “The Moon and the Sky” and the voice belongs to Sade Adu.–
PopMatters.com
Soldier of Love is only the sixth studio album the band Sade have released during their 25 year career, and the first since Lover’s Rock in 2000. For Sade herself, as the lynchpin of the group’s songwriting effort, it’s a simple matter of integrity and authenticity. “I only make records when I feel I have something to say. I’m not interested in releasing music just for the sake of selling something. Sade is not a brand.”
The call went out in 2008 for the group to re-convene at Peter Gabriel’s Real World studio, near Sade’s home in the countryside of south west England. It was the first time the four principals had met up since the Lover’s Rock tour wrapped in 2001. Bassist Paul Denman de-camped from Los Angeles, where he had been managing his teenage son’s punk band, Orange. Guitarist and sax player Stuart Matthewman interrupted his film soundtrack work in New York, and keyboardist Andrew Hale gave up his A&R consultancy.
In a series of fortnightly sessions at Real World, Sade sketched out the material for a new album which, they all felt, was probably their most ambitious to date. In particular, the sonic layering and martial beats of the title track, Soldier Of Love, sounded quite different from anything they had previously recorded. According to Andrew Hale: “The big question for all of us at the beginning was, did we still want to do this and could we still get along as friends?” The answer soon came back as a passionate affirmative.
The album was completed in the summer of 2009, mainly at Real World. The feel of the music this time had moved away from the old country soul styling of Lover’s Rock and assumed a more eclectic identity. At times the band sounded like the original Sade, with Matthewman back blowing soft sax on In Another Time and the vocal on Long Hard Road hymning. But with songs such as the joyously quirky reggae chant Babyfather, and the dramatically arranged album opener The Moon and the Sky, Sade were exploring new territory. “I never want to repeat myself,” Sade herself says. “And that becomes a more interesting challenge for us the longer we carry on together.” (Amazon.com)
