NEW SOUNDS

SADE 

Sade Adu, the reclusive pop artist who has largely been out of the spotlight since her last album, "Soldier of Love" with her band also called Sade and the world tour that followed to support the record about fourteen years ago. Without her long-time band, she has unexpectedly released a new song that is very important and meaningful to her. In 2016, Adu's only child, now named Izaak, came out as a transgendered man. Sade has contributed the song, "Young Lion" that will be a part of the compilation album, "Transa", which features forty-six songs from over one hundred musicians in celebration of the trans community. This moving song, written by Adu with Aaron Taylor Dean and Ben Travers, offers a mother's apology to her son for not giving enough support during his early days of transitioning. "Young Lion" is based on a letter Sade gave to her son on his 21st birthday. And after deciding the message was so important, especially during these fraught times with attacks on the trans community, the song was created to share with the world.



TYLA

Tyla burst on the scene with her breakthrough single, "Water" last year. This Afrobeat track helped build excitement for the debut album by the twenty-two year old South African performer. With her self-titled album released earlier this year, there is now a deluxe edition of the record, simply titled "Tyla +". There are three new track included; the African drum driven, "Shake Ah", the ballad, "Back to You" and the reggae-fused single, "Push 2 Start". The music video for this track delivers a visual vibe of r&b from the beginning of this century, bringing to mind the colorful styles of Rihanna and Beyoncé.



OMAR APOLLO

The pop singer, Omar Apollo makes his acting debut with a supporting role in director Luca Guadagnino's upcoming film, "Queer". Based on the novella by William S. Burroughs, Daniel Craig stars as William Lee, an American living in 1950's Mexico City and becoming infatuated with a younger American, played by Drew Starkey. Apollo appears as a hombre that Lee picks up in a bar and proceeds to have an intimate encounter. The singer has also provided a song for the soundtrack, "Te Maldigo" which is produced by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. This mournful ballad (which roughly translates to "I curse you") is about damning a former lover for no longer loving him. Guadagino  as directed the music video for this song which is set, much like the film, in a smoky Mexican bar.

THE BIG UNKNOWN

This year has been very good for fans of the cherished yet elusive artist, Sade. First, the singer and her same-named band made a surprise return earlier in March with a contribution to the soundtrack for the Ava DuVernay's fantasy film, "A Wrinkle in Time".  Now, Sade has delivered an unexpected song for the soundtrack for the just released Steve McQueen-directed heist-thriller, "Widows" which stars Viola Davis. "The Big Unknown" is a moving ballad about loss and survival that plays in to the film's themes. As it's been eight years since Sade's last studio album, there is news from the band that they are currently working on a new record. So until we can get our hands on that, here is another great single to groove to in the meantime:

FLOWER OF THE UNIVERSE

I can’t tell you how thrilled I was hearing the news that Sade was coming out with a new song. It is for the soundtrack of Ava DuVernay’s new fantasy adventure, “A Wrinkle in Time”. The director states that she simply just wrote a letter to the elusive vocalist asking if she might consider providing a song. Not expecting her to seriously accept the offer, DuVernay was pleasantly surprised when she agreed. And the wait is finally over as Sade’s track, “Flower of the Universe” has just been dropped. It has been over seven years since we last heard from the fifty-nine year old singer and her band which was with the release of the great, “Soldier of Love” back in 2010. This tender ballad was a true collaboration between the singer and the filmmaker that lead to some of the lyrics actually being used as dialogue in the movie. This is classic Sade and hopefully will lead to more new music.

THE 150 GREATEST SCHLOCK SONGS EVER

Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" is used as the perfect example of a schlock song. On intial release, this rock tune was popular but critically derided. But now, after some time has past, this song is now universally embraced as a classic. What changed? Good question.

New York Magazine looks to explain when bad taste becomes great art and ranks these songs from throughout pop music history. I personally find some of these selections questionable but as with all art, schlock is in the ear of the beholder.

Click below to read the article and see the entire list of songs:

From Journey to Beyoncé: The 150 Greatest Schlock Songs Ever

I have included a few of my personal favorites from the list and where they ranked:

13. "I Will Always Love You" - Dolly Parton (1974)

29. "If You Leave Me Now' - Chicago (1976)

31. "It's A Man's, Man's Man's World" - James Brown (1966)

49. "Empire State of Mind" - Jay Z featuring Alicia Keys (2009)

71. "More Than Words" - Extreme (1990)

114. "Kiss of Life" - Sade (1992)

SADE: LIVE IN CONCERT

 

I was a little disappointed that I didn't get a chance to catch one of the three L.A. Sade shows at the Staples Center but luckily a friend managed to get tickets (through Groupon) for the August 31st show at the Honda Center in Anaheim. It was over an hour away (with plenty of hellish traffic) from where I live but this concert was well worth the trip.

It's been ten years since Sade last toured and judging from the wildly, enthusiastic reaction from the audience that evening, the band was most certainly missed.

The stage floor opened up with a bright white light bursting through and Sade Adu emerged from it, looking incredible wearing a skintight black catsuit. The band kicked off the show with the title track off their latest album, "Soldier of Love". After the song, Ms Adu thanked the audience, seeming surprisingly shy, then announced that this evening's show was being recorded.

Sade continued on with my personal favorite, "Your Love Is King (Remastered Version)" and then proceeded to cover many of their classic songs from throughout their long career. They were no surprise covers or any obscure songs from their back-catalog performed as the band knew exactly what everyone had come to hear.

They were many magical moments throughout the show but the highlight had to be the performance of "Is It A Crime (Remastered Version)? " as the other members of the band, Paul Denman on bass, Andrew Hale on keyboards and Stuart Matthewman on the sax, were each given a spotlight to really show off their stuff on this song.

Sade's stage show was much like a stadium rock concert that featured an amazing combination of lights, shadows,and fog, as well as the obligatory projected images on large video screens but they also placed them on a full-length sheer scrim that covered the entire set for a very striking, dramatic effect,  All of this was certainly quite dazzling to see but Sade seems to be a band more comfortable in the "less is more" camp as all of the grand production was more of a distraction to their intimate, slow-groove sounds but the group definitely was able to adjust to performing on a much larger scale.

Best known as a r&b balladeer, John Legend opened the concert and while I can't say I'm a huge fan but he did put on a good show with his hit song, "Green Light" getting the audience dancing in the aisles.

Despite the unnecessary excess, Sade put on quite a memorable and entertaining show and in fact, it is certainly one of the best concerts I have seen in a long time, perhaps ever.

To give you an idea of the concert, here is the music video for Sade's latest single, "Love Is Found" which just happens to be a performance from the tour:

HOT AND FRESH OUT THE KITCHEN

"STONE ROLLIN'" -  RAPHAEL SAADIQ

Raphael Saadiq is a one man neo-soul movement and the world is a better place for it.

This former member of Tony! Toni! Tone! is continuing the old school r&b sound that he used on his terrific last album, "The Way I See It"  but this time he is incorporating a bit of rock & roll to the mix. Mr. Saadiq is an underrated talent and "Stone Rollin'" is the perfect blend of rock and soul and I hope people discover this.

The only downside to this project is the awful album cover but I can overlook it.

I love this song from the album:

"Good Man" - Raphael Saadiq

"LOVE?" -  JENNIFER LOPEZ

Actress and "American Idol" judge, Jennifer Lopez has returned to music with her first album since 2007's "Brave".  "Love?" is her seventh CD and  has production assistance from some of the hottest producers working today such as Tricky Stewart, Red-One and The Dream.

While the first single, "On The Floor" is a somewhat, surprising top-ten hit but I don't think there is anything else on this record that is going to get her much radio play as the songs all feel like rejects from any one of the current female pop singers out now using these same producers and have basically the same sound.

Ms Lopez has never been known as a great singer but there is an unusual lack of any inspired vocals. "Love?" comes across as a desperate attempt by Ms Lopez to try and keep up with what is hot right now instead of making a move  forward in dance music.

This is the title track which is the only other song that I kinda like:

"(What Is) Love?" - Jennifer Lopez

"WHO YOU ARE" - JESSIE J

Jessica Cornish's initial claim to fame was as a songwriter and she co-wrote the only song that I will admit that I like of Miley Cyrus: "Party In The U.S.A.".

The twenty-three year old Brit, who is now known professionally as Jessie J, has released her debut album, "Who You Are [Explicit]", where she is now singing the songs that she wrote. Already a smash in her homeland since February, with the album reaching number two on the charts and selling over a million copies, it has finally hit stateside.

It is a collection of hip-hop flavored pop that is in vogue now which is actually part of the problem. She is an interesting artist but isn't offering much that feels particularly fresh or innovative. Jessie J is probably going to have some difficulty breaking through the pack of all of the other female pop vocalists doing the same exact sound.

I do like this track from the album:

"Abracadabra" - Jessie J

This is the music video for the song, "Price Tag" which features B.o.B:




"IN YOUR DREAMS" - STEVIE NICKS

"In Your Dreams" is the first album of new music from Stevie Nicks in ten years and it's well worth the wait. With production assistance from Glen Ballard (Alanis Morrisette) and The Eurythmics', Dave Stewart, Ms Nicks enchants us with her mystical soft rock sounds.

If you are a fan, you will not be disappointed by her latest collection of songs that sticks closely to her particular (and slightly peculiar) thoughts on love

This is the first single off of the album:

"Secret Love" - Stevie Nicks

"THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION" - SADE

"The Ultimate Collection" is all of the musical highlights of Sade's amazing body of work, starting from 1984's. "Diamond Life" to her latest, "Soldier of Love". All of the songs have been remastered as well as featuring three new songs including a remake of the Thin Lizzy song, "Still In Love With You" and two remixes.

Be sure to catch Sade on the North American leg of their world tour, hopefully stopping in a town near you.



Here is one of the remixes, "The Moon And The Sky (Remix)" that features an appearance from Jay Z which is a surprise because Sade has never collaborated  much with other artists:

"The Moon & The Sky (remix featuring Jay Z)" - Sade

FOCUS ON: SADE

Yesterday, while I was driving home from work, I saw not one, but two different billboards, not far from each other, using the beautiful face of Sade to promote a local radio station using the slogan, "Relax. . . and unwind".

This is an accurate feeling you get from the music of Sade, which has been soothing people for over twenty years. It is a wonderful blend of jazz, Caribbean, rhythm & blues and classic pop music that creates the unique sound of Sade.

Sade is absolutely one of my favorite groups and at this point I should say, if you didn't know already, that Sade is actually the name of the band, although it is named after their lead singer, Sade Adu. The rest of the band consists of: Stuart Matthewman who plays guitar and sax, Paul Denman who is the bass player and Andrew Hale who plays keyboards. They all contribute to creating the songs with Ms Adu writing the lyrics.

They have only completed six albums since their debut, "Diamond Life" in 1984 and they just finally released their latest, "Solider of Love" that came out in February.

"Solider of Love" is another great one with their distinctive smoky and seductive sound that includes a few minor contemporary touches sprinkled throughout the record.

Their latest single is a great song, "Baby Father". The set up for this video of Sade singing in a kitchen as she washes dishes is a little odd but Sade looks AMAZING. Here is the music video:



Sade has won three Grammys and has sold more than 50 million CDs across the globe.


Love seems to be a recurring theme in their music, so here are a few of their tunes that I really love:

Love Is Stronger Than Pride.mp3

Hang On To Your Love.mp3

Your Love Is King.mp3