The Best Sade Songs
The iconic singer and band Sade defined an entire generation and created a unique style of soulful expression. As the singer returns with her first new music in six years, we do the difficult task of rounding up the best Sade songs.
Sade’s musical output focuses on quality.
The singer has just released her first new music in over six years. Titled “Young Lion,” the new song is written for her son Izaak, who identifies as a trans man. It builds on a meditative piano and is lifted by the singer's unmistakable vocal delivery. "Young Lion" is part of theTransabenefit album from the Red Hot Organization, a sprawling concept tape of 46 songs due on November 22.
From the early eighties down to 2010 when the iconic singer and band released their last album Soldier of Love, the listener can perceive a focused intent. The majority of Sade's six albums are carried by their distinct inimitable sound which pairs genres such as soul, jazz, pop and R&B. When their debut album Diamond Life was released in 1984, it quickly became the quintessential depiction of eighties soul, dispensing life lessons in the masterful telling of affectionate stories over spellbinding acoustics.
Sade's members broke out of Latin soul band Pride. The new iteration consisted of Paul Denman (bass), Stuart Matthewman (sax) and Andrew Hale (keyboard), along with the enthralling singer Helen Folasade Adu. Popularly known as Sade Adu, she was born in her father’s country, Nigeria, and, after a divorce, was raised in Essex with her mother and her family. When the quartet began making in-roads in the British music scene, it was the coolness of their chemistry and Sade Adu’s lead vocals which brought them huge attention.
Sade’s voice is feathery but not saccharine, and often soars along to the dreamy sound established by her bandmates. That voice, and as well her writing skills partly informed by literary fiction, creates the soul in their catalog. And from those illuminating records, we select ten which best captures the qualities of Sade, as well as their growth over the years.
With another unmissable opportunity to celebrate the brilliance of Sade, we highlight ten records which best captures all that the band and its singer have come to represent in the world.
All of Sade's full-length albums are available in vinyl at the Okayshop.
"Your Love Is King"
Matthewman’s lingering sax sets this record on a glorious path, padded lightly with Spencer’s bass. Everything else depends mostly on Sade, whose evocation of a love affair carries her quintessential soul. She evokes the brilliance of those early periods, where everything carries great intensity. When she sings that it’s “touching the very part of me, it’s making my soul sing,” anyone who’s surrendered at the altar of love instantly understands.
"Smooth Operator"
This global hit showcases the atypical funky-ness of Sade. As the title suggests, it’s a quiet storm of a record, painting the memorable image of a seductive and elusive male figure. Sade tended to write in the third person in her early music and that distant breeze is present here, although amplified by the striking originality of imagery such as “placing high stakes, making hearts ache / he’s loved in seven languages."
"The Sweetest Taboo"
Few songs epitomize the eighties as poignantly as “The Sweetest Taboo." For those who witnessed its release in real time, it’s more of a moment in time than another record, with that timeless sheen being a common feature in many Sade songs. Love, and the intense moments of its pleasure, finds perfect form in the compositional genius found here.
"When Am I Going To Make A Living"
Sade’s authorial intent also stretched to include socially aware records. Across their catalog, few are as potently realized as this one. That famous refrain — “we’re hungry but we won’t give in” — charges its verses with the realness of life in the eighties, with dwindling economies and shifty characters. Ultimately, she encourages strength amidst the struggle, affirming that “they’ll waste your body and soul if you allow them to.”
"Paradise"
Over an impressionist bass line, Sade lulls expressively about affection. Many of their songs carry a light feeling, placing breezy music alongside their lead singer’s acute pen. And where sometimes the pairing comes across as uneven, here there’s a measured step to every second. “I’d give you the world if it was mine,” sings Sade. She doesn’t just give us the world; she takes the listener into hers, into that distinct charm that loves everything in that world.
"Kiss Of Life"
As the music of Sade advanced into the nineties, their repertoire tended to include more gloss, the writing more direct where it used to be ornate. Released in 1992, their fourth album Love Deluxe included this sterling track, one of the most distinct in their catalog. Her vocals soft embrace tightens here into a lovable squeeze, and each second into the song loosens the intensity of that feeling. “There must have been an angel by my side,” goes the first line and the entire song maintains the fine celestial imagery.
"Cherish The Day"
Without a doubt one of the coolest songs Sade ever made, the light bass line drum balances this record. That bass is the triumph of its pacing, as it sets the tone for Sade to approach its writing with even more serenity than she usually does. For a song that’s about cherishing the mundane moments, it’s actually genius how the atmosphere evokes a similar simplicity, deliberately unremarkable while moving to the ebbs of its own satisfaction.
"By Your Side"
In 2000, Sade got back from a eight-year break to record Lovers Rock. Like its title, the album is influenced by the reggae-influenced lovers rock, pairing its breezy overtones with broader genres which moved beyond soul and jazz. “By Your Side” is a memorable song from that album — carried on bluesy strings and Sade’s melancholic writing, it settles into its brilliance, and where Sade’s authorial hand is present much elsewhere, this one writes itself.
"Be That Easy"
Off their latest album Soldier of Love, Sade throws it back to the golden era of soul. Perhaps influenced by the fact that they had more to look back on than looking towards, there’s a satisfaction the album carries, and this wistful record perfectly embodies the mood. Sparse and somber, the instrumentals build around the hurtful narrative, as Sade sings in the first person and seems more invested in the material than ever. Ever the quotable songwriter, there’s barely a line to highlight here, because everything progressively flows and is cohesively constructed, so there’s no let-down of the intensity until the very last couplet: “It’d have to be much harder / Meanwhile boy I love you.”
"The Safest Place"
As the last record on Soldier of Love, this song does the important job of bringing its entire narrative together. An epic feeling follows through its almost three minutes runtime, set on melancholic strings which swell and contract, like the palpitations of a heart. War metaphors are dispensed deftly, from the image of “my heart [being] a lonely warrior” to the less dramatic but even more poetic “around is a wall no one from earth could break / in there will shine the light of heaven’s eye” — it’s a classic record that aligns message and mood in ways that remain virtuosic to behold.
Update: This post has been updated (on September 5, 2024) with information about Sade's upcoming music.