It's been eight years since the last album from the Jamaican chanteuse Sade, and she's used the time wisely. For anyone who has previously dismissed her as a bland, coffee-table artist, Lovers Rock will come as a major surprise. This is an intense record of mournful crooners, sung brilliantly in Sade's trademark weary style and benefiting from sparse, tasteful arrangements. It falters a little towards the end, but it's a subtle and beguiling album of downbeat soul nonetheless. Now, any chance of another one before 2008?
