Music: Sade Art & Soul

Sade's work over the years has become increasingly thoughtful and textured, and the songs on Lovers Rock are adorned with many lovely, epiphanic touches: the mumbled vocal sample that haunts Every Word: the way Sade almost whispers her vocals on It's Only Love That Gets You Through, commanding close attention and conjuring a sense of intimacy. Other maturing pop stars shed their skin like snakes, looking to adapt to prevailing trends. Sade's musical evolution has come slowly, subtly. The power of her music is rooted in gentle grooves and meticulous vocal phrasing. It's a popular saying that the devil is in the details; it's also been said that God is there as well. In her details, Sade finds something else, something uniquely human: soul.