Lovers Rock

After an eight-year hiatus Sade returned with Lovers Rock. The title refers to the sweet, melodic strain of reggae that singer Sade Adu listened to in her youth. Her love for the songs of Beres Hammond and Gregory Isaacs is felt in subtle shades on “All About Out Love,” “Every Word,” and “Lovers Rock,” although the imprint of Jamaican music is even stronger on “Slave Song.” Over a militantly heavy dub bass line Sade blends themes of love, suffering, faith and perseverance. “The tears run swift and hard and cold as pain,” she sings. “Even, even the comfort of a stone would be a gain.” The album’s underlying theme of heartbreak culminates on “King of Sorrow,” which offers the indelible image of a woman awash in grief as she listens to the sounds of DJ in a club. While Sade has a reputation for romantic seduction, Lovers Rock proves the band is as in touch with a unique form of blues. Or perhaps the two are connected. Sade explains it best on the closing song, “It’s Only Love That Gets You Through”: “You forgive those who have trespassed against you / And you know tenderness comes from pain.”