Ten Years In The Making……

On Tuesday, February 9^th my favorite artists, released a new album, Soldier Of Love.  Sade hasn’t released an album since 2000.  Sade’s lead vocalist and band frontwoman is Nigerian-born Sade Adu (full name Helen Folasade Adu), who is the band’s only female, has so far been the only consistent band member, and is also the only one portrayed on any of the album’s covers.  Many mistake the band name Sade for the lead singer Sade Adu, considering her a solo act or artist. In fact, Sade has included the following band members in addition to Adu: Stuart Matthewman (guitar and saxophone), Paul Spencer Denman (bass), Andrew Hale (keyboards), and Paul Anthony Cook, who played drums from 1982—when Sade was first formed—to 1984, when Cook was actually kicked out of the band.

 To say that I’ve been excited about Sade coming out with a new album would be an understatement!  I had been doing a countdown months before the album was set to come out.  I am a HUGE Sade fan.  At one point in time, I have earned all of her music, most of it in tape form.  I can remember listening to her tapes in my last two cars, which both had tape players.  When I was in college, I’d always pop in a Sade tape to get from school to home. 

As most cd’s do, Solider Of Love, was set to come out on a Tuesday.  My plan had been to leave work at 9:45 a.m., so I could be at Target at 10:00 a.m.  My wife made the mistake of letting me know that Meijer puts their cd’s out at midnight.  So, after a little begging and pleading, my wife agreed to go with me to Meijer at midnight so I could get my cd.  I got in from choir rehearsal about 10:15 Monday night.  My plan was to stay awake until it was time to go to Meijer.  I was like a little kid on Christmas Eve, so my wife told me I had to lie down and be quiet!  I laid down, but of course I couldn’t sleep, and didn’t want to take the chance of falling asleep and missing the opportunity to get my cd at midnight.  I was successful at staying up and while I was almost able to stop driving my wife crazy, I did not do a good job at not driving myself crazy!  We were at Meijer by midnight.  The cd was not out on the shelf when we got there, but the guy working there went to the back and got me oneWhen we got back to the house, I opened up my new cd and was excited to find the words to all of the songs!  Although it was past 12:30, and there was a slight chance I’d have to go to work in the morning (chance of snow) I downloaded the cd to my laptop and listened to a few songs before happily falling asleep.  The next morning we woke up to several inches of snow, and found ourselves snowed in.  I was sooo glad I had gotten the cd the night before!!

So, for those of you that are living under a rock, and haven’t gotten the cd, here’s a little break down for you.  The cd only has 10 songs on it.  It’s a little disappointing to only have 10 songs, but they are 10 quality songs.  My favorite is of course the title song, Solider of Love.  It’s upbeat and has a wonderful rhythm to it.  It’s also the first single off of the cd.  Sade has performed on several U.S. t.v. shows,  recently (Letterman, The View, Today Show) and this is the song she has performed everytime.  My other favorites include Babyfather, which is also a little upbeat and reminds me of a positive ‘babydaddy’ anthem, and Skin, a slow song about a toxic relationship. 

I love Sade’s silky distinct voice.  I love her deep and haunting lyrics.  I love the sound of the band.  They have been sorely missed in an industry that has sorely been missing good music.  My one hope now is that they will tour the U.S. again because I have never seen them live.  My wife already knows, that if there is a tour, we have got to be at one of those concerts, even if it means a little bit of a drive.  Please don’t let me down Sade!  We need one more U.S. tour!!!!

Morning Bird
How could you
You are the river
Pour out of this life

How could you
You are the morning bird
Who sang me into life every day
Fly away

You are the blood of me
The harvest of my dreams
There’s nowhere I can find peace
And the silence won’t cease

Nothing’s quite how it seems
The ghost of my joy
Won’t let me be

If you set me free I will not run
I will not run
I will not run

-Sade