Love is the message on Sade's latest album, hence the title, Soldier of Love. One might ask, well, isn't that the theme of pretty much any Sade song? And the answer would be a resounding YES. Throughout her nearly three decades in the music business, Sade's songs have examined love and its many facets--from the highs and joys ("Nothing Can Come Between Us"), the harrowing pain ("Smooth Operator" and "King of Sorrow") and the struggles to keep it going ("Hang on to Your Love"). But the lyrics on Soldier of Love are darker and possess a greater maturity that you haven't heard on her previous efforts. An "older and wiser" Sade if you will--even though she looks as young as she did when she first broke onto the scene in the early 1980s. Soldier of Love is more personal, perhaps even autobiographical, and it resonates with you from the first listen. "The Moon and The Sky" expresses the sorrow one feels over unrequited love and how easy it is for anyone to carry a torch for the one who hurt you the most. But the album's strongest song is the title track, "Soldier of Love." It is Sade at her best. The lyrics are insightful and the ebb and flow of love are evident in just the first few lines: "I've lost the use of my heart/But I'm still alive." Her vocals express both the deep ache and yearn for true love. With the almost futuristic sound of the military-style drums and guitar riffs, Sade paints such vivid images as desolately beautiful as a Sergio Leone western. Soldier of Love shows us that Sade will continue to fight perhaps life's greatest battle--the search for true love.
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