Indigo Haze

behindthegrooves:

On this day in music history: November 13, 2000 - “Lovers Rock”, the fifth album by Sade is released. Produced by Sade and Mike Pela, it is recorded at Deliverance Studios, Sarm Hook End Studios in London and El Cortijo Studios in San Pedro de Alcántara, Spain from September 1999 - August 2000. Despite scoring yet another multi-Platinum selling album with “Love Deluxe” in 1992, it is one of only two times that Sade are heard from during the 90’s. After releasing their first greatest hits package in 1994, the band begin their longest hiatus from the public eye yet. After a turbulent marriage to Spanish director Carlos Pliego which ends in divorce in 1995, Sade Adu begins another relationship with music producer Bob Morgan, giving birth to a daughter named Mickailia (aka “IIa”) in 1996. Taking time off to raise her child, the band do not begin work on a new album until the Fall of 1999. Refreshed from their extended time apart, band members Stuart Matthewman, Paul Spencer Denman and Andrew Hale have been active in the interim, recording an album under the moniker Sweetback, and Matthewman co-producing R&B singer Maxwell’s first two albums. Once back together in the studio, the band decide to try a different creative approach from their signature sound. Sade move away from the full band arrangements of their previous albums, toward more spare and acoustic guitar driven tracks. Having spent much of the 90’s living in Jamaica to escape the European tabloid press, Adu is inspired and influenced by the sounds of the Caribbean. The title “Lovers Rock” comes from the sub genre of reggae music that is notable for its romantic and sensual vibe, that Sade listened to growing up. Her ups and downs relationship wise also figure significantly in the overall mood and feeling of the album, most notably on the first single “By Your Side” (#75 Pop, #18 AC), the follow up “King Of Sorrow” (#101 R&B) and “Somebody Already Broke My Heart”.  Like their previous work, “Lovers Rock” receives a rapturous reception from fans when it is released in the Fall of the new millennium. In the US, the album is also issued with a bonus CD through big box chain store Target, featuring four previously unreleased live versions of “The Sweetest Taboo”, “Smooth Operator”, “Nothing Can Come Between Us” and “No Ordinary Love”, recorded during the Love Deluxe Tour. Sade also follow it with a world tour in 2001, which is then followed by a live concert video and album both titled “Lovers Live” released in 2002. “Lover’s Live” peaks at number three on the Billboard Top 200 and R&B album chart, and is certified 3x Platinum in the US by the RIAA.

(via 70sbestblackalbums)