Sade: Soldier of Love
The first studio album since 2000's Lover's Rock misses out on the standout signatures
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If Sade was new and Soldier of Love was the band's debut, it'd be appreciated but far from iconic. Luckily for Sade, this relentless melancholia is not the debut, but the first studio album since 2000's Lover's Rock. Well, maybe not lucky given the high expectations. The lean, 25-year-old machine meets some of them. The lyrics are lush and the orchestrals as organic as ever, but what's missing are standout signatures, despite the inclusion of the sonically layered single "Soldier of Love" – most notable for sounding like nothing Sade has done before. The rest of this moody affair resembles older material with few exceptions, like the lilting reggae of "Babyfather" and the rambling "Bring Me Home." The rest you've heard before, only better on Diamond Life, with hooks. Sometimes that's enough as on the elegaic "Skin." Too often it's not, unless you heart morose music. "Is It a Crime?" No, but honestly nothing could ever be again. (Sony) 3 out of 5 stars.