SADE - Love Deluxe - Album Review

SADE – Love Deluxe – Album Review

Day 15 of my top 50 lifetime albums was previously posted on my Facebook page as i approached my 50th birthday back in 2021.

On a previous album review i mentioned the fact of not having many crushes throughout life. If it is possible to develop a crush on a voice then this is such.

This collection of songs takes my music appreciation sensors to a completely different level. I’m actually starting to get worried about leaving albums out as i’m already posting acts that should probably be in my top 10.

This particular album makes me thankful for having ears, relatively unscathed hearing and most of my senses still in tact.

This lady’s voice is like the most luxurious of chocolate, like the softest velvet, like a warm breeze coming off the sea as you walk along feeling the sand between your toes. Get the idea?

Today’s album is quite possibly one of the finest R&B / Soul albums ever written. The vocals and gentle harmonies throughout this entire album never fail to give me goosebumps and are a complete masterclass in songwriting and chord structuring.

Many Sade fans overlook this album for their more chart friendly Diamond Life and Stronger Than Pride, and that’s understandable. For me though, Love Deluxe is just a level further.

All of their other albums have one or two stand out tracks that everyone knows but for me this has always held an extra special level of depth and song structure throughout. “No Ordinary Love’ is such a beautifully uplifting song. ‘Like A Tattoo’ uses some of the most subtle Spanish style guitar with complementary piano and gorgeous laid back chords. Every song on this album is a complete winner on every level.

These songs have a way of building and picking you up without you even realising what’s going on, with every listen you pick up a subtle emotion that you hadn’t noticed previously, maybe that’s down to the production, lets not forget that Sade is also an incredible, accomplished band which perfectly surrounds this lady’s sultry tones.

‘Pearls’ is still one of the most beautiful and emotional songs ever written. We may never actually know what the lyrics were truly meant to symbolise, but the basic structure is penned around the difficult, underprivileged world of a Somalian lady and her day to day life struggles. Sade’s many beautiful songs have always been about love, hope, loss and triumph.

The stunning, haunting melodies of Pearls is nothing short of being a songwriting, musical masterpiece. If you have never heard this song or maybe forgotten about it, please please please take 5 minutes with some headphones, close your eyes and build a movie in your head around the words within. I defy anyone to not feel some emotion.

An absolutely stunning album on every possible level.