In particular, the sonic layering and martial beats of the title track, Soldier Of Love, sounded quite different from anything they had previously recorded. In a series of fortnightly sessions at Real World, Sade sketched out the material for a new album which, they all felt, was probably their most ambitious to date. Guitarist and saxophone player Stuart Matthewman interrupted his film soundtrack work in New York, and London based keyboardist Andrew Hale gave up his A&R consultancy. Bassist Paul Spencer Denman de-camped from Los Angeles, from where he managed his son’s punk band, Orange. It was the first time the four principals had met up since the Lovers Rock tour wrapped in 2001. The call went out in 2008 for the group to re-convene at Peter Gabriel’s Real World studios, in the countryside of south west England. I’m not interested in releasing music just for the sake of selling something. For Sade herself, as the lynchpin of the group’s song writing effort, it’s a simple matter of integrity and authenticity: “I only make records when I feel I have something to say.

February 2010: Soldier of Love is released, the sixth studio album the band Sade have released during their 25 year career, and the first since Lovers Rock in 2000.

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