R&b
Supreme masters of classic, cool-blend soul music, Sade married substance with elegantly-rendered style across six albums in a four decade span. It all began in 1983. Helen Folasade Adu and guitarist/saxophonist Stuart Matthewman parted ways with London outfit Pride after performances of seminal hit ‘Smooth Operator‘ caught the attention of labels both sides of the Atlantic. Enlisting keyboardist Andrew Hale, bassist Paul Denman and drummer Paul Cook, the band signed with Epic Records and Sade were formed.
The band’s impact can be measured by their crossover commercial success but also their legacy as distillers of retro-conscious compositions. Sade’s popularity in the US was a rare feat for a British pop/RnB act. They amassed multiple multi-platinum releases during their ten-year Imperial Phase, and their urban, uber-romantic musical oeuvre has inspired a wealth of contemporary artists. Just ask Beyoncé, Missy Elliott, Drake, Bon Iver and Deftones.
Sade Adu, the face and soul of the band, let her music do the heavy lifting. She didn’t chase trends. Her autonomy and remoteness inspired zealous speculation about her life and romances. Her one-of-a-kind mystique heightened the voyeuristic aura in songs that hinged on a subdued, decompressed and timelessly clean sound.
This twenty-track list honours every Sade era: the sophist-pop shimmer and cosmopolitan smooth jazz of debut album ‘Diamond Life‘ and follow-up ‘Promise‘, the languorous, Latin-inspired funk of ‘Stronger Than Pride‘, the atmospheric ambient trips of magnum opus ‘Love Deluxe‘, and the low-end reggae-tinged rhapsodies of turn-of-the-millennia release, ‘Lovers Rock‘. In this list we commemorate Sade’s evergreen appeal, range and ambition, by picking the songs that move and speak to us individually.
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Your Love Is King
The lead single from ‘Diamond Life’, ‘Your Love Is King’ remains the group’s highest-charting track on the UK Singles Chart. The sax-dominant ballad is a jazzy ode to a royal kind of love, one that intersects between the physical and spiritual. Written by Adu and band saxophonist Stuart Matthewman, lines like “Touching the very part of me, it’s making my soul sing / I’m crying out for more, your love is king” immortalise the craving of an unwavering commitment. Jazmin Kylene
Smooth Operator
The opening track from ‘Diamond Life’ was originally presented as a demo and gave the album its name with the line “Diamond life, loverboy”. A track that encapsulates the band’s suave mystique, ‘Smooth Operator’ would lay the groundwork for how Sade would be perceived for the entirety of their career. Opening with an undeniably smooth sax melody and a spoken word introduction from Adu, the single spotlights her serene vocals and seductive stage presence – the embodiment of the cosmopolitan new romanticism that floods the album. Special mention goes to British actor Michael Feast as the con man and Sade’s deceptive lover in the accompanying music video. Sabrina Soormally
Cherry Pie
As the coveted crown jewel on ‘Diamond Life’, ‘Cherry Pie’ is the textbook definition of a rewarding listen; a melodramatic tour de force compellingly straddling yearning, desire, frustration and regret. Initially simmering gently and delicately with faint hi-hats and keyboard chords, the track soon explodes into a bombastic jazz-funk number. The increasing presence of Sade’s girl group-esque background vocals as the song modulates through its various suites only add to the spectacle. Clocking in at just over six minutes, this track more than any other on the album, highlights the formidable unit they are as pure unadulterated musicians. Yet, it’s hard to deny that Stuart Matthewman is the member who steals the show here with his delectable use of the wah-wah pedal effect on the electric guitar. An aural orgasm that pierces the ribs each and every time the chorus makes its rounds. Sope Soetan
Hang On To Your Love
Sade were in enlightening mood on their inaugural curtain-raiser to an American audience. Producer Robin Millar – one of the architects behind the band’s early distillation of sultry but placid jazz-pop – provided ‘Hang On To Your Love’s’ polished foundation, offset by Adu’s raw, unprocessed voice delivering a life-affirming sermon for those that had been hardened by heartbreak or adversity. This deep cut might not be Sade at their most compelling, but it’s certainly them at their most tasteful. Shahzaib Hussain
The Sweetest Taboo
The lead single from Sade’s second album ‘Promise’, ‘The Sweetest Taboo’ opens to the sound of a literal downpour that’s quickly overtaken by an almost joyful percussive loop. Reminiscent of ‘Your Love Is King’, the song is burnished and upbeat and the lyrics are imbued with unbridled devotion, with Adu crooning breathy, romantic overtures like “Anything you want me to do / Don’t let it slip away”. The visual cuts between clips of Sade performing the track live, dancing with that trademark incandescent smile, whilst lamenting an old flame as she gazes out into the rain. Sabrina Soormally
Is It A Crime?
The opening track from Sade’s sophomore effort ‘Promise’, ‘Is It A Crime’ is an undeniable masterpiece. The album and era marked the band’s evolution in narrative worldbuilding in the short time since their debut a year earlier. The soft jazz ballad embodied the singer’s understated elegance with soulful yearning and soothing romantic crescendos. At a staggering six-and-a-half minutes, ‘Is It A Crime’ was an immersive experience, overwhelming the listener with a ululating declaration of love. Sabrina Soormally
Jezebel
A piercing exemplar of Sade’s illustrative songwriting, ‘Jezebel’ proceeds with caution, empathy and admiration all at once. Telling the tale of a woman who climbs her way out of poverty using her beauty, the track’s foxy saxophone enhances the nocturnal mystery of the track. As ever, Sade’s vocals carry an emotional depth – a weight that has been regularly sampled and re-purposed over the last decade. From grime to hip-hop, ‘Jezebel’ continues to fall on fresh, inquisitive ears. Ana Lamond
Love Is Stronger Than Pride
The opening track from ‘Stronger Than Pride’ is one of the more outré compositions in the band’s discography. Upon release, some reviewers deemed Sade’s self-written overtures weepy and saccharine, but the love-stained lyrics are secondary to the mood music. And Sade are masters of simple economy of a tempered groove. The weightless drums don’t quite rumble or reverberate, and the detuned Spanish guitar and auxilliary background voice that emerges to compliment Sade’s before disappearing, teases the subtle, sonorous erotica of their next full-length, ‘Love Deluxe’. Shahzaib Hussain
Paradise
Encapsulating bliss, ‘Paradise’ is a diaphanous celebration of finding home within another. A funky R&B groove, this summery track permits Adu to do what she does best: love loudly and naively. The 1988 single serves as Sade’s most successful track on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, peaking at number one. Standing the test of time, ‘Paradise’ is nigh impossible to listen to without feeling drunk on new love’s hope. Jazmin Kylene
Turn My Back On You
The year is 2011. I’m a 16-year-old sixth-form student and I ask my Dad to rent Sade’s video anthology ‘Life Promise Pride Love’ on DVD. By this point, I was already familiar with the obvious hits ‘Your Love Is King’, ‘Smooth Operator’ and ‘No Ordinary Love’, and was looking forward to a viewing experience which would crystallise my love for these classics. But what ended up leaving the biggest impression on me? The videos for ‘Nothing Can Come Between Us’ and ‘Turn My Back You’, the final singles from the ‘Stronger Than Pride’ album, which in my opinion is the band’s most overlooked body of work.
Channelling the ghost of Marvin Gaye, the genius of ‘Turn My Back On You’ lies in its ability to make the most of its subtlety. Lyrics are few but it doesn’t matter because anymore would take away from what I imagine the objective of this song was: to let the song’s prominent groove take flight. Though this ended up being a minor hit for the band when released in 1988, to me it stands as one of their most underrated singles. Let this be a lesson in why we must never forget the importance of physical media. Sope Soetan
Haunt Me
A near six-minute symphony, ‘Haunt Me’, the final offering from ‘Stronger Than Pride’, is a fragrant waft of smoke; a balancing act between sax, space, delicate keys and Sade Adu’s declaration of abiding love. Her voice is its own instrument: airy, close, lamenting but never outstaying its welcome. The last two minutes of ‘Haunt Me’ are quite literally…haunting. The listener never really knows if these lovers, seemingly adrift from each other, find each other again. Only a spectral plea remains, and the rest, as with many Sade songs, is left open to interpretation. Shahzaib Hussain
No Ordinary Love
One of Sade’s most recognisable ballads, ‘No Ordinary Love’ is a time capsule of miraculous connection. The lead single and opening track to their 1992 album ‘Love Deluxe’, ‘No Ordinary Love’ unsurprisingly landed itself on Rolling Stone’s 500 Best Songs of All Time, widely recognised as one of the most significant love songs of all time. The timeless record that defined Sade’s impact whilst charting globally, you didn’t need to understand the English language to be moved by the depth of Adu’s yearning. Jazmin Kylene
Like A Tattoo
On the final show of their 1993 Love Deluxe World Tour, Sade offered up a rare reveal about what inspired the creation of ‘Like A Tattoo’. “A long time ago, I met a man in a bar in New York. He told me his story. This is his song. It’s about war and what he had to go through.” The group’s most vivid torch song – covered most recently by Kelela – was born from a conversation with a stranger Sade met at a New York City bar, who recounted the war crimes he committed in Vietnam in service of country.
On ‘Like A Tattoo’, we’re taken on a guided tour through a tortured mind. The engineered minimalism of ‘Like A Tattoo’ – the tender strum of Spanish guitar, the way Adu transitions from a hoarse whisper to a guttural vocal exhortation, deftly orchestrated with producer Mike Pela – allows for the song’s groundswell of calamity and trauma to froth to the surface. ‘Like A Tattoo’ strikes a chord today; an apocalyptic tenor of apathy, and what befalls a man when all he has left are the ghosts that consume him. Shahzaib Hussain
Kiss Of Life
An adult contemporary smooth jazz classic taken from Sade’s fourth full-length, ‘Kiss Of Life’ is a staple in the band’s discography. Adu’s syrupy tones glide over sax, shimmering chimes and bongo drum sections, coalescing to form a sonic salve for the heart and soul. The song opens to the everlasting opening line, ‘there must’ve been an angel by my side’, evoking an image of a mythic collision that could shatter the skies. Ana Lamond
Cherish The Day
‘Cherish The Day’ was the final single from the band’s fourth studio album, ‘Love Deluxe’, an album often cited as the precursor to a substratum of digital soul and R&B that would go on to be imitated in the ensuing decade and beyond. A serene piece of ambient soul, the song’s weepy, pirouetting guitar lines, minimalist trip-hop backing and Sade’s unmatched vocal clarity overwhelms the listener, before freeing them. In the accompanying monochromatic video, Sade sings from the rooftop to a distant paramour, the New York skyline mirroring the surround sound glory of a track that implores you to embrace life’s possibilities before it passes you by. Shahzaib Hussain
By Your Side/By Your Side (Neptunes Remix)
The lead single from the group’s fifth album, ‘Lovers Rock’, is the chamber pop meets soft rock synthesis that continues to endure as the eternal love song. Yarns of dewy-eyed devotion might have been too direct or lachrymose when spun by lesser musicians, but Sade were no ordinary band. Initially a mild hit, years on ‘By Your Side’ has revivalist appeal: it’s a wedding-song staple, and has been covered and reinterpreted by Bon Iver, Kanye West and The 1975. But the The Neptunes and their turn-of-the-millennia remix – which would later be included on the double-disc standard ‘The Ultimate Collection’ – took the original to hypnagogic heights with its counterpoised harmonics, airy chord progressions, hums of flute and of course, those spacey synths. Quotidian love made mythic. Get into it. Shahzaib Hussain
Lovers Rock
The title track from Sade’s Grammy-winning fifth collection, ‘Lovers Rock’ is one of the most swoonworthy tracks in band’s catalog. After a lengthy break from the industry, Sade emerged with an album that replaced their sheeny sonic imprint with the jagged edges and hardwired energy of reggae, dub and modern dance. Indelibly a Sade love song, ‘Lovers Rock’ is also a loose metaphor for Adu’s relationship with music; never beholden to the rules of the industry, her disenchantment was common knowledge. ‘Lovers Rock’ is her coming home, finding redemption in the sway and the rhythm; in the background music seeping into the foreground. The gift that keeps on giving. Shahzaib Hussain
King Of Sorrow
A pivot from their usual loved-drenched discography, ‘King of Sorrow’ finds Sade Adu at the mercy of her own survival. The bluesy romanticism and the strength in pain and perseverance, serves as an anthem for anyone withered down by the weight of living. “I suppose I could just walk away / Will I disappoint my future if I stay?” is a deeply profound sentiment, a dim light of escape eclipsed by the paralysing fear of What if? Though its lyrics carry devastation, its soulful melody floats you above water. Jazmin Kylene
Slave Song
On Sade’s moody and mercurial version of ‘Redemption Song’, the band reached for generational import in their own characteristically austere way: as a chiming prayer. ‘Slave Song’ explored and drove home the idea of dwelling; how it can handicap and stifle the Black person struggling with the weight of a traumatic, oppressive legacy. Ripe with religious imagery, namely the incandescent light that pierces the encroaching darkness, Sade engineered an off-kilter sound system swayer for those seeking release from bondage. Shahzaib Hussain
Babyfather
A warm and tender snapshot of parenthood, Sade’s ‘Babyfather’ sees the artist pivot from their rich yet polished R&B formula. Leaning into rustic, reggae-inflected production, Adu dedicated the track to her son Isaak, who provided backing vocals alongside Clay, the teenage son of bandmate Stuart Matthewman. A family affair, the second single to be lifted from Sade’s most recent full-length ’Soldier of Love’, ‘Babyfather’ was the revelatory moment on a mostly substandard final outing. Ana Lamond
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Photo Credit: David Montgomery
