Sade · Music · Briefs

Sade · 1992

Love Deluxe is a controlled, atmospheric R&B record built on restraint and texture rather than groove or spontaneity.

Diamond Life

Sade · 1984

Diamond Life is Sade’s debut studio album, recorded in six weeks at Power Plant Studios in London in 1983. Fifteen songs were written collectively by the band—except 'Smooth Operator', co-written solely by Sade Adu and Ray St. John—and produced by Robin Millar. The band developed the album’s musical direction collaboratively, rehearsing each song in detail before recording. The album blends soul, jazz, and sophisti-pop, with lyrics focused on love; its instrumentation includes prominent basslines, smooth drums, subtle guitar, brass, and keyboards. Specific recording details include using a real piano and Fender Rhodes painstakingly synced, manual mixing for 'Cherry Pie' with six people at the desk simultaneously, and Adu composing 'When Am I Going to Make a Living' on a cleaning ticket during financial hardship. The album opens with 'Smooth Operator' and closes with a cover of Timmy Thomas’s 'Why Can't We Live Together'.