Diamond Life – Sade

Diamond Life by Sade is an album that I consider to be music made for me. Not in the sense that comes off as egotistical, just the fact that it encompasses much of what I like in music. I initially found Sade’s music because of Formula 1 driver, Carlos Sainz, and his signature song Smooth Operator, which appears on this album. After I gave this album a full listen, I became invested in Sade, who is now my number one artist. For me, the album has no skips and flawlessly combines Sade’s stunning vocals and jazzy sound.

The album starts off with Smooth Operator, which is arguably her most well-known song. The rhythm of this song sets the tone for the album, and introduces the elegance of Sade, who is indeed “smooth.” Following this track is Your Love is King, which gives lots of credit to Stuart Matthewman, the saxophonist of the band. With his slick playing, the joy of jazz combines with an element of pop to create quite the song. Hang On to Your Love is the next track, and it continues the trend of the album quite well. The constant baseline keeps you strolling, and next thing you know, you’re on to Frankie’s First Affair. Though not the most popular of her songs, it deserves just as much credit as the rest, as her vocals are filled with emotion on the track, one that has given me chills at least once before (no shame). For reference, this occurs at 2:26 in the song. Vocal peaks such as this occur in more of her songs as well, such as Is It a Crime – which isn’t on this album.

After that track comes When Am I Going to Make a Living, which is a groovy track in itself. This track speaks to much of her musical journey, or what I assume is a reference to it. I’d have to do more research to know what she’s going for in this track, but lyrically, it makes sense. Rhythmically, it follows the same jazzy vibe but is on the calmer side. All the tracks on this album are amazing, but this might be my least favorite of the bunch. Cherry Pie, the next track, has one of the grooviest bass lines I’ve heard so far, and I catch myself tapping along every time it starts playing. I don’t think I’m going to be able to put into words how good that song is, so this is your sign to go and listen to it. As I described earlier, it may just be “as sweet as Cherry Pie.” Coming to the latter half of the album, we are introduced to Sally, in which Sade tells a story of a caretaker. The ability to tell a story while singing is something that often goes uncredited in music, and for Sade to add this to her talents in her debut album is astounding to me. The song isn’t her most popular, but the mellow undertones show she has more to her than just the groove of her hits like Smooth Operator. If you wanted to be friends with Sade, I’ve got good news, because the next song is I Will Be Your Friend. This track describes the way in which Sade will be there for people “until the end of time.” Speaking to her own character, Sade puts feeling into song yet again, with another solid tune present in the song. Though falling into the bottom half in my personal list, this song still is one for the ages. Finally, Sade closes the album with Why Can’t We Live Together. An incredible song that takes the state of the world and asks for an answer. Ultimately played during Live Aid, this song paints a picture – one we still live in today.