Soldier of Love. The album features 10 new tracks as well as a lot of hype for the re-emergence of the award winning band. So, does it live up to the hype? With only a brief listen, the album on the whole has great songs and the overall sound is pretty slick.

My only beef is that the band sounds a little dry on a few tracks, while Sade’s voice sounds really, really full. This album suffers from a lack of real drums. I get that there are amazing things that can be done with drum machines, but that doesn’t seem to be capitalized here, the drums are very stiff and boring. A little behind the beat might’ve solved this problem for me. That being said, this music would sound amazing live. Michael Olatuja’s Speak achieves that live-thumping sound that is missing here. I like the songs on Soldier of Love, but they don’t make me feel like I need to start moving.

Regardless, it’s a good album and has been killing on the charts.

LISTEN:

p.s. If that turns out not to be a drum machine, then. Wow, weird production.