Sade
Sade Soldier of Love (Epic)
Sade is a rare artist, not simply because she has sold more than 50 million records in her 26-year career, but also because in two decades her sound has changed little.
Listening to Soldier of Love one could be in the 1980s, when she established her dominance with tracks such as Smooth Operator. Still, Soldier of Love offers something for the modern world. No screaming diva, Sade is known for classy, sultry vocals with understated arrangements and these remain.
Opener The Moon and the Sky deals with her favourite subject, the mournful dissection of where love went wrong, and the album continues in this vein, most sweetly with Morning Bird. The exception is title track and single Soldier of Love. Backed by a military beat, there's a toughness in the lyrics not often present in her work.
Sade may have held back time with her sound, but the quality she brings to her work means she should never be out of fashion.
