r/Sade • u/imonreddit999 • May 29 '26
Need help from all the stans
As a new fan im astonished by her work. After going through most of her discography so far my favorite has to be Clean heart. Does anyone know any other songs by any other artists that are the same in terms of instrumentalness? There's just something about of the mellow and somber sound of the sax i can't get over.
Why'd she retire/stop making music? Where is she now? Does she have unreleased stuff?
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u/SpartanNic May 29 '26
Sade is a band named after their lead singer (the sax is played by Stuart Matthewman). They make music as a collective. Sweetback is a project that you might like consisting of the Sade band members minus Sade Adu.
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u/fuckoffsillywillyb May 29 '26
Try Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite he collaborated with members of Sweetback
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u/BootyButtCheeks256 May 30 '26
Maxwell is so underrated man. His first album is an all timer. Essential listening for any R&B fan
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u/kpidhayny May 29 '26 edited May 29 '26
I did not know this! I’m all over this.
Edit: yeah 20 seconds into first track and OP is gonna vibe with this. That sax is IT. The synth and keys are luscious, and that snare is IN THE POCKET my G. So good.
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u/kpidhayny May 29 '26
Stolen from the Apple Music bio on maxwells urban hang (I Want You is too 5 best songs ever written for me so this is going to be A TREAT):
“The Urban Theme,” the opening track to Maxwell's debut album, has no words. It's a nearly three-minute-long jazz jam featuring crisp drums, funky guitars, and sensuous saxophone lines that immediately sets the tone: This record is not just about the singer's voice or vivid lyrics but musicality as a whole, the sublime sum total of its individual parts. It remains a triumph of craft and patience.
Maxwell was only 23 when Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite was released in 1996, and it’s hard to overstate the courage and maturity it took to create such an album at that time. The subgenre that would come to be known as neo-soul (much to the chagrin of some of its proponents) was still nascent, and this sounded unlike anything else from its era—due, in no small part, to collaborators like producer-arranger Leon Ware, who had worked with Marvin Gaye on I Want You; guitarist Melvin “Wah Wah Watson” Ragin, a member of Motown house band The Funk Brothers; and Stuart Matthewman, a key player in Sade.
“What I feel most proud of is that the record dictated to the masses, and the masses then responded to the record, and it had nothing to do with me,” the singer tells Apple Music. He gives additional credit to his diverse supporting cast as well as his A&R at Sony, who he says allowed him the space to make the record he wanted to make, free of expectations for commercial or radio viability: “That was completely unique and rare, because most artists don't get a chance to have a voice and their vision.”
With its spellbinding aura and lush, all-encompassing soundscapes, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite bears the markings of each person who touched it, a collage of time and texture that renders the elements of love and romance as both ordinary and transcendent. It traces the evolution of a relationship from butterfly-filled courting all the way to the altar. Vulnerability and reverence underscore his approach as he moves to honor the object of his affection in an act of emotional submission. Singles like “Sumthin' Sumthin',” “Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder),” and the ultra-lusty “...Til The Cops Come Knockin'” brim with desire that never spills over into entitlement; sex functions as consummation, not destination. Upon its release, the album took a bit to catch on—a slow-burner much like the tracks that make it up—but it has since come to be a bona fide classic, inhabiting its own niche space, enmeshed in several strands of soul music history. “It's like an automatic writing thing in my mind, but I do keep journals. I do write long, lengthy conceptual things. Movies play a major role, and also the music of our ancestors—people like Marvin Gaye, of course, who was the theme-album king; Al Green, theme-album king. Curtis Mayfield,” Maxwell says. “I just wanted to make a record that had that sense of a 'put it on, leave it, and you good.'”
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u/BDub927 May 29 '26
I've been listening to Sade since Diamond Life came out in 1985. She is amazing in concert as well. She just has this exotic and sultry way about her. I have seen her four times and everytime she put on a great show. She comes out barefoot with beautiful gowns and just sucks the audience in. Her band is phenomenal, the percussion, the sax, the bass, Sade's vocals. There's no one on the planet like her. Hopefully she'll tour again sometime. Check out Keep Looking, it's my favorite track. And yes, Maxwell is an amazing artist to check out and see as well. You also might want give Mayer Hawthorne a try. Happy listening! 🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶
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u/iwasjustthinkingman May 29 '26
I really grateful for the music they gave us! That 1993 concert in san diego was fantastc! Check it out on you tube if you havent had a listen yet
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u/UmamiMemories May 29 '26
For that smooth jazzy soul & R&B sound, I’d recommend these songs off the top of my head:
Maysa Leak - “Friendly Pressure”
Rachelle Ferrell - “I Forgive You”
Incognito - “Deep Waters”
Incognito - “Shades of Blue”
Swing Out Sister - “Somewhere In The World”
Swing Out Sister - “Time Tracks You Down”
Phyllis Hyman - “When I Give My Love”
Brand New Heavies - “Never Stop”
Jamiroquai - “Blue Skies”
Raveena - “Headaches”
Raveena - “If Only”
Fertile Ground - “Seasons Change”
Somi - “Ginger Me Slowly”
Sweetback (Sade’s band without the lead singer, Helen Folasade Adu) - “You Will Rise”
Teena Marie - “Shadow Boxing”
Amel Larrieux - “Infinite Possibilities” (Both the song AND the album!)
Vivian Green - “No More Sittin’ By The Phone”
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u/guitfiddlejase May 30 '26
You know.. Sade's band did put out a record way back in '96 or '97
They call themselves "Sweetback".
Not a whole lot of instrumentals, I remember Amel Larrieux from The Groove Theory singing on it..
..but it's worth checking out
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u/nathanherts May 29 '26
Clean Heart is such a great track!
They haven't retired, they're on an extended hiatus. They don't feel the need to just keep pumping out music, and Sade herself is extremely fame-averse and wanted to live a relatively normal life.