Sade - Soldier of Love

OMG I AM BEYOND EXCITED.

this album is going to be like a surprise holiday in february

http://pinboardblog.com/2009/12/07/sades-first-single-off-new-album-is-solider-of-love-news/

hyyyyped

http://pinboard.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/11151_189724627881_9994477881_3126548_7614593_n.jpg?w=420&h=420

She doesn't look any older now than she did in 1992.

she's one of those odd women who only gets more beautiful as they age

She's still stunning.

I figured she retired or moved to another phase of the music business. She hasn't had an album in almost a decade, I think.

Lovers Rock came out in 2000.

And of course it will sell millions. I love these guys' level of fame. With the depressed state of the industry, it wouldn't surprise me if it became their first number one album since 1986.

Is it really still a "they?"

Wikipedia says "yes!"

More from wiki: "'No Ordinary Love' appeared in the second episode of the second season of 30 Rock when Kenneth Parcell tried to seduce Tracy Jordan's wife, Angie Jordan."

I do not believe I remember this. Must rewatch.

And of course it will sell millions.

I hope this is true, for Sade's sake, but I doubt it. Few records sell a million copies these days, right? I guess a digital single might. Also, I'm not sure about the strength-of-commitment of the band's fans (again, I hope the new record sells millions).

Their commitment is immense. Check their US sales: modest but steady.

lovers rock went triple platinum in the u.s.

the live album that followed sold over 500k

Lots of things went triple platinum ten years ago, though.

I think Soldier of Love probably will hit platinum, but it might take half a year or more.

I'm going to buy three million copies and give some away to friends

the album cover kinda reminds me of this

http://dummidumbwit.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/avalon_hi.jpg

haha yeah me too

so excited about this. I was initially a bit disappointed when Lovers Rock came out but i turned out to be pretty good. I still think as recent lol

wow - single comes out tomorrow?!

Does an album going platinum only take into account U.S. sales? Because Sade has a global fanbase, right?

"do something like her previous albums"

Haha gee, ya think?

I for one cannot freaking wait for this to sound exactly like all of her other albums.

it leaked yall
http://2dopeboyz.okayplayer.com/2009/12/07/sade-soldier-of-love/

HMMMMMMMMM

it's kind of great

right? i like how weird it gets

yah lovin this

and i like how it just keeps going

I dunno, not to get all sick mouthall, but it feels kind of compressed and spaceless. Her singing still sounds impeccable, though.

im on laptop speakers so i cant tell

i'm on big headfones and the beat sounds kind of sick. on repeat

Already the best album of 2010.

Kidding, but this thing is a stark contrast to the big, slow-to-change mountains of songs on Lovers Rock. This is all pulse and friction. This is all awesome.

Now I'm really thrilled to hear this. Pulse and friction sounds good!

might be the first cd i've bought in 3 yrs

deej the single didn't "leak", it got released!!

you have to say something leaked or no one cares tho

if its already released than i am #offthat

lol deej

this single btw is the fucking remedy to everything, man oh man I am beyond stoked for this album

btw are you guys covered in snow yet

we were yesterday but tonite it was just hella rainy

not sure what rev was talking about upthread btw the mastering on this sounds real clean

Loving this!

It reminds me a little bit of Lhasa's "Anywhere on this Road".

I too am freaking loving this. It is too much to wish for a Sade/Muse collaboration?

Haha I guess that'll kill a thread dead.

You're all talking about the Soldier of Love song on Sade's website? Yeah, it's good. The song had a toughter edge than the Sade stuff I remember. It's a nice new feature to the sound, I think.

god, i love this so much. on fbook, all my friends are 'Liking' my link the vid. and the mp3. and it just proves to me a point i made once many years ago: 'If you don't like Sade, then you're a fucking cloth-eared moron.'

i'm at the borderline of my faith
i'm at the hinterland of my devotion
in the frontline of this battle of mine

i LOVE this.

*Like*

about to be the ten year anniv

i hate reading my tone in these old threads but i stand by the gist of 'being really stoked abt this album'

10 years wow. I still feel like I somehow haven’t yet had time to give it a good listen.

11th anniversary!

oh damn ... i cant count

#74 on pitchfork year end list .... ariel pink #1 ... thoughts on which has aged better

I was about to say: this came out when I was still in office at XLR8R, which ended in mid-2010. We had an office listening party when it came out.

love this album so gd much

"be that easy" ... "in another time" ... tears

I remember my shock of glee when the title track was so awesome.

Just think: the Dems hadn't lost control of the Senate yet.

man this album

i'm finally diving into it and i really think it might be their best. how anything can deal with death so forthrightly and have such a light touch at the same time feels like such a miracle. somehow even the family stuff reaches me - the treatment is gentle, relieving, unsentimental, full of detail and observation, the truth there is so undeniable. her vocal performances on these tracks.. there's a whole life and universe there, they feel truly representative of all of humanity. some of these songs have 'recently minted songbook standard' vibes to them. at the same time there's something unassuming to the whole thing, sort of hidden in plain sight. what an achievement.

be that easy, babyfather and soldier of love are great songs

otm

be that easy completely destroys me.

i'm not sure who exactly some of these songs are addressed to, but it seems like it may be ... god ...?

also, i really did need to know that in spite of the long hard road ahead it's going to be alright. you know?

just like, crying for 30 minutes straight in the car while this cd plays

Just discovered on YT the clips of the official live recording of 2011. Wonderful and unusual staging. Might buy a DVD for the first time in 15 years

“Be That Easy” is so fuckin nice

no love for 'skin' ....

I doubt I will ever feel an urge to listen to anything but "Soldier of Love" itself.

― Andy K, Monday, February 8, 2010 8:43 AM (twelve years ago) bookmarkflaglink

curious if andy has come around

That's all he's listened to since 2010.

"skin" is divine.

i've had this in my car for a few weeks now. it's a total comfort listen. something about this combo: grief / family loss + the sober / real / "morning after" vocals + incredible grooves / very crafty but light touch on everything.

"the moon and the sky" is lush and almost gothic, what an anthem about love turned on its head.
those last few minutes of "soldier of love" are such a groove - p funk vibes.
"morning bird" is devastating mothers' grief.
"babyfather" is wonderful, it's honestly not my favorite thing here because of the subject matter but it's very seductive.
"long hard road" is a perfect miniature about being lost and moving ahead anyway.
"be that easy" - obsessed with this.
"bring me home" - this song is nuts. did i ever think i would hear a sade song about being at that stage in life where you just want to die + major halloween vibes? there's almost a spiteful joy for me in singing along to it.
"in another time" - matthewman's sax! the first time it shows up on the album, and what a song for it. just like, "fuck those dudes." time washes away everything.
"skin" - "cause you're not right within" - probably the sickest burn i have ever heard
"the safest place" i have never had a child but this is very compelling, very rich soundscape

my ranking is something like

"be that easy" > "moon and the sky" = "soldier of love" = "skin" = "in another time" = "bring me home" > "long hard road" = "morning dove" > "babyfather" = "the safest place"

it's not like i've heard very much music, but i've never heard anything in the pop realm that gets so real about death and loss and what it takes (or doesn't take) to deal with it.

"be that easy" gets me literally every time i listen to it. when the thesis of the song arrives, that she could have been falling all these years, full of air, sun on her face wind in her hair, falling down, flying as slow as she can, not trying to reach the land, just falling somewhere - that, to me, is maybe the most beautiful thing i've ever heard, and i burst into tears every time she sings it.

I remember not thinking about Sade for years, until I noticed a bunch of live videos on Youtube that had ten million views apiece, e.g. this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=au8rHGvytn8

They're one of those bands that are much bigger in the US than the UK. The more I hear the more the strike me as a hidden gem - the stereotype in the 1980s was that they made smooth music for Porsche-owning businesspeople who had compact disc players, but in 2023 we are all Porsche-driving businesspeople with compact disc players. Obviously no literally. But metaphorically. On a more serious level I've always found it hard to get into The Blue Nile because their production smacks of the period whereas Sade has a timeless quality. I can see the band being popular with modern internet kids.

It's odd how bands you ignore when you're young creep up on you. I'm still thrown by the resurgence of interest in Slowdive. Of all the bands! Slowdive. I would never have predicted Slowdive coming back into fashion, not in a million years. But Sade is still sort-of in fashion because they're still the same band, they didn't stop.

I learn from discogs.com that some vinyl pressings of the first album had SHAR-DAY written on the LP labels.

Sade are great. I’m glad you are on the right side.

except this business of timelessness ;)

i mean, time is a major theme for this band, but it's definitely mortal time.

i love all of the albums but none have quite flashed 'this is a major work of art' at me like soldier of love has. still i don't think it's perfect. the last song doesn't quite gel for me.

map i've been appreciating your sporadic dispatches in this thread. it's prompted me to play the album front to back a couple times for the first time in many years; probably since it was new. it really has opened up, keeping the themes of your insights in mind. thank you.

same -- love the posts, map

ty, glad it prompts a relisten.

"babyfather" is wonderful, it's honestly not my favorite thing here because of the subject matter but it's very seductive.

"babyfather" is a major-key, positive, chill song that sounds bright. but ironically it might be the most painful song for me to listen to on this album because of the failures of my own father.

“be that easy” <333

i am still listening to this in the car on repeat! not much new to add, other than i went back to love deluxe for a few weeks and noticed that "cherish the day" shares some of the thesis of "be that easy," with a different emphasis. for a long time i heard those first words of the chorus, "i cherish the day," with an implied "when" after it. as in "i cherish the day (when something unnamed but wonderful happens)". i think this is a construction i picked up from a religious upbringing (as in, "the day of the lord's return" or whatever). anyway, i only recently realized that she means "the day" as in "the daytime" as in "the present". and the song is a meditation on the sacredness of the conscious present. similarly, the thesis of "be that easy" is that after a lifetime of being propped up ("that's just like you to tell me i've nothing to fear") or torn down ("i am a broken house"), she sees clearly that what life is is a "falling", stripped to its essence of being-in-time ("full of air / sun on my face wind in my hair"). as a falling, it isn't just the day, it's a succession of days arranged in this beautiful arc of grace. i hope that's not overdescribed. anyway, now i'm curious to go back further and listen for other traces of this kind of meaning-of-life-is-the-present-moment stuff in the 80s records.

"in another time," the whole effect of the song is right there in the title. how to make a peaceful time in the future speak to the hurt of the past, like clean water clearing out a stagnant pond or a breeze bringing in something new that smells safe and alive. that whole outro with the violin and the piano and then the saxophone is this gentle wave that crests right in the last few seconds.

"bring me home," i just want to highlight this line: "the small step i need to take is a mountain / stretched out like a lazy dog." makes me shiver every time. like, can someone call and check on sade i'm a little worried about her. i mean obv the song is from the pov of someone seeking death, not a personal reflection, but that kind of image can't come from anything else but deeply felt experience imo.

I'm loving this live blogging.

I haven't read all of this thread but I just recently re-listened to love deluxe/lovers rock and I was very struck by how out of time Sade's musical progression is. I haven't listened to Soldier of Love or the 80s records in a bit but it struck me that as much as Sade was influenced by things going on musically around them (I get a strong Ibiza vibe at times on Lover's Rock for example) they also seem totally out of time. Or maybe more correctly in their own timeline. Like the hints of Soldier of Love already exist in Lover's Rock 9 years earlier and the same goes for Love Deluxe/Lover's Rock. Unlike say, Portishead where Third feels like an entirely new thing strung together by Gibbons' voice Sade feels very in touch with their earlier music over the long stretches of time between their records.

excited to read through the rest of your thoughts map.

map forced me to buy a copy of Soldier of Love (I'd burned several tracks + remixes long ago). I'm loving it, certainly their best since 1988.

i'm not totally sure how to articulate this but one thing they've always seemed to have to some degree is a version of "jazz" that i would say is organized around sade's vocal performances. on soldier of love the flow and spaciousness of her vocal lines and delivery feel very deliberate to me, a sort of highly conscious minimal construction akin to miles davis' playing on, well, what's in my mind is the first track of jack johnson, but whereas that's channeling a boxing performance, sade is gesturing towards things like the passing of time, love, birth and death. songs about injury and resilience, specifically on soldier of love.

i think how they have melded jazz and rhythm into pop song structures is very sophisticated, very much their own construction, has been a throughline through the decades, and is maybe part of why they feel so "out of time". there might be a few instances over the decades where the construction of that depth and spaciousness slipped but i think they've always had a very high "batting average" with it so to speak, on every album from the beginning. need to go back to the first few and revisit. the way they do it is so interesting to me. of course it's very subtle, but also very attuned to every moment. they take the space and embodiment of jazz and rhythm and marry it to the urgenicy of 'song'. each era and album has a few formal experiments with it and then tracks that just go for the bleachers with emotional saturation for fuel.

i know this is the soldier of love thread but just a side note that 'give it up' on stronger than pride is one of my favorite rhythms they've ever recorded, that stopped crash cymbal repeating. it's a shorter track and you'd be tempted to think it was a tossed off thing at the end of the album but i just think it's so intense and spiritual and just rhythmically electrifying.

will i think the 'ibiza' sound has always been strongly identified with sade, in some ways they may have been progenitors. i'm not an ibiza expert. "the sweetest taboo" video comes to mind, sade alternately jamming in the loft and then riding a white horse through the spanish countryside with a free spirited hunk - quintessential ibiza it seems to me.