For the listener who has never heard of Sade Adu, listening to Soldier of Love, Sade’s sixth studio album and first release containing original material since 2000, will give him feelings of warmth and will let the listener want to experience romance right away with tracks layered with soul and class.

The diversity of the record is pretty obvious with the tracks touching lots of genres ranging from country to even reggae. The album can be basically considered as a ‘melting pot’ of genres – mixed all together yet the finish ends up impressive.

Soldier of Love, the title track, basically gives diehard fans of Sade a taste of everything that they expected from the band. In other words, the track is perfect. The military-inspired beat, definitely following off the soldier motif present in the whole record, as well as the classy guitar sound join forces in creating a listening experience that is not lacking any richness in quality whatsoever.

Sade’s adeptness with ballads gets thoroughly displayed with Morning Bird, a track that begins with a depressing piano introduction that only sets the tone for the track with much-needed conviction. As mentioned, the record is basically a ‘melting pot’ of genres and Babyfather, a track infused with reggae-inspired elements, only proves this to be true. Babyfather eventually ends up as an outstanding soul record that only diversifies the palette effectively.

Be That Easy has some country twang embedded in it. The track makes it a point to emphasize that Sade is also an expert when it comes to crafting impressive melodies. Bring Me Home even sports a hip-hop vibe with a beat that sounds relatively faster when compared to the rest of the tracks included in the record.

One of the album’s closing tracks, Skin, displays Sade’s silky vocals with aplomb and conviction. The track is definitely thick when it comes to texture and the arrangement is simply a touch of sheer ingenuity. It could be described as something palatable and absolutely packs a lot of punch.

Soulful. Sensual. Crisp. Sweet. Creative. These are five words that can be used to describe Soldier of Love by Sade. Each of the tracks will provide the listener a unique listening experience – no sameness is present among the tracks and the melodies are simply charming. The diversity present in the record is also an asset that only helped improve the listening experience. The quality of the tracks included in the record is consistent with the richness not getting compromised. This is undoubtedly a classic record from Sade – one that is ready to fend off challenges or detractors and simply withstand the tests of time.

Best Track: Soldier of Love
Other Recommended Tracks: Babyfather, Skin, and Bring Me Home
Date Released: February 5, 2010
Label: RCA/Epic