When Sade released Soldier of Love last year, following an extended period of hibernation, it felt as though she was reclaiming a long-surrendered throne. This wasn't just because the album was greeted with universal acclaim, nor that it subsequently rose to the top of the US album charts. It was more than that. There was also an overriding sense that Sade was more relevant now than at any point since her heyday. The decision to release The Ultimate Collection, her second compilation,bears this out. A collection of remastered cuts (plus a DVD of selected videos), this new release spans the entirety of Sade Adu's career as a recording artist fronting the band that bears her name.
During Sade's first period of sustained success in the 1980s, her smooth sound divided critics. Indeed, by the time she began taking longer breaks between albums during the 1990s, this received wisdom had taken hold. The columnist Julie Burchill famously derided Sade as "beige". She made bland, coffee-table music designed to enable stockbrokers to mimic tropes of sophistication.
Mark Sinker, the former editor of the Wire and an active critic during this time, explains: "The mid-1980s were as busy a time as any for new trends. Something noisy or flashy or subtle or silly demanded your attention every week, in among all the new technologies and expanding media. In the aftermath of punk, critics were just terrified of being caught out backing the wrong thing, and very suspicious of the idea of technique.
"Sade obviously had an appeal - with big hits and a big audience - but with what seemed like no backstory. She was just tremendously guarded about herself. Which at the time I think meant she was looked down on critically - there was no handy hook - with a side order of disdain, for someone so determinedly committing to her craft, and nothing more."
Years later, a re-evaluation of her work has become inevitable.
For one thing, the incremental changes to the Sade sound have gradually become more apparent: the richness of the Love Deluxe (1992) era and the more organic warmth of Lovers Rock (2000) compared to the yacht-friendly leisureliness of her earlier work illustrate that while the world assumed her to be in stasis, Sade was on the move all the while.
Crucially, she is not just a people's artist, she is a musician's musician. Her aesthetic, honed over the years, may bear little relation to current trends - but it has been kept alive by a growing number of contemporary musicians and fans for whom it had struck a particularly deep chord.
In many ways, there are parallels to be drawn between Sade and Kate Bush, another utterly sui generis British musician. Both have a penchant for the lengthy hiatus; both are notorious for keeping their engagement with the press to a bare minimum; both, when not promoting an album, manage to step out of the spotlight in order to live what are apparently lives of quiet, domestic normality. And both, in large part because of their uncompromising determination to go about their business exactly as they see fit, have come to represent sets of values and ideas that they have never needed to spell out themselves.
In both cases, the most interesting manifestations of this are the ones that you have to squint slightly to see. Kate Bush's image as a literary bluestocking eccentric may have inspired a generation of self-consciously quirky singer-songwriters, but her artistic restlessness and sonic adventurousness have, over the years, managed to draw praise from house producers, rappers and classical composers. It is a similarly diverse bunch who now revere Sade for her combination of stately, regal bearing with deep-rooted soulfulness.
She has long been a rappers' favourite, having been namechecked over the years by Nas, Big Boi and Mos Def; last year, Californian producer Droop-E (legendary San Francisco rapper E-40's son) released the BLVCK Diamond Life mixtape of beats all lovingly crafted from Sade originals.
On The Ultimate Collection, Sade returns the favour in kind. Jay-Z guests on a version of The Moon and the Sky, while the Neptunes' remix of By Your Side has been dug out of the vaults and is the only representation of the many sundry reworkings, official or otherwise, of the Sade back catalogue. Tellingly, despite the addition of their trademark stuttering beats and some pretty psychedelic synths, in terms of mood and structure it is about as faithful a remix as one could expect.
Sade's aesthetic may be far removed from the streets, but that's the point: what dropping her name represents to the hip-hop cognoscenti is aspiration and the good life. On Outkast's West Savannah, Big Boi rapped, "Sade is in my tape deck, I'm movin' in slow motion, boy": an earthbound reflection of the jet-set lifestyle she sang about on Smooth Operator, her first-class plane seats finding their mirror image in his cruising convertible. Fast forward to 2010, and her most prominent musician fan is another hip-hop giant, Diddy - one who is no stranger to luxury himself. She is a recurring motif throughout his ongoing Last Train to Paris project. This year saw Diddy-Dirty Money both dedicate a whole song to her on the LoveLove vs. HateLove mixtape (the hypnotisingly sleek Sade) and cover two of Sade's own most epic cuts, No Ordinary Love and Cherish The Day.
Epic, that is, in both sound and emotion. On Cherish the Day, sheer longing hangs heavy over acres of space; while on the seven-minute No Ordinary Love, Sade burns slowly but so fiercely as to push the song into the realm of the otherworldly. Both are taken from Love Deluxe, arguably the album that best crystallised what Sade was about. It's appropriate that Diddy uses those selections to help narrate a tormented, intense love affair: both are emblematic of the beautiful ambiguity that was Sade's forte. Cherish the Day and No Ordinary Love are as overwhelmingly sad as they are blissfully loving - but the melancholy of Sade's voice works with the grace of the music, not against it, and neither detract from the other. A space is opened up between the conflicting emotions and the listener is caught, perfectly poised, inside its desolate gorgeousness.
The Sade strategy for conveying emotion has always been exquisite production - which makes her music a natural fit for electronic acts, too. Back in 2003, Michael Mayer, founder of the Berlin label Kompakt, one of the past decade's most significant, covered Love Is Stronger Than Pride. Nowadays, artists from all walks of club life speak of her as a reference point. Gadi Mizrahi, DJ and co-founder of the lauded New York label Wolf + Lamb, has coined the phrase "Sade house" to describe the more midtempo tracks with relaxed vibes he enjoys playing. Chicago juke producer Jody Breeze's reworking of Cherish the Day, retitled The Way I Move, ratcheted up the tension in the beats while retaining the original's swooning drift. At the London club Night Slugs in March, the highlight of the increasingly in-demand LA DJ/production duo Nguzunguzu's set was their sequencing of Diddy-Dirty Money's Sade and The Way I Move back to back.
On Is It A Crime?, Sade croons almost unassumingly, as though not to break the spell, startling images like "My love is wider, wider than Victoria Lake/My love is taller, taller than the Empire State". Her music is like a swan: the beauty of its exterior is itself seductive, but there's as much complexity and depth going on beneath her regal bearing.
No wonder that, as Nguzunguzu's Asma Maroof states, "Her essence is timeless: people of all ages, from all time zones, can ride her vibe. She is essential."
Alex Macpherson is a regular contributor to The Review. His work can be found in The Guardian and New Statesman.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Results
2pm Handicap (PA) Dh85,000 1,800m
Winner AF Al Baher, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer).
2.30pm Maiden (TB) Dh75,000 1,400m
Winner Alla Mahlak, Fabrice Veron, Rashed Bouresly.
3pm Handicap (TB) Dh80,000 1,400m
Winner Davy Lamp, Adrie de Vries, Rashed Bouresly.
3.30pm Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 1,400m
Winner Ode To Autumn, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
4pm Handicap (TB) Dh80,000 1,950m
Winner Arch Gold, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
4.30pm Maiden (TB) Dh75,000 1,800m
Winner Meqdam, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
5pm Handicap (TB) Dh90,000 1,800m
Winner Native Appeal, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson.
5.30pm Maiden (TB) Dh75,000 1,400m
Winner Amani Pico, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Price: From Dh215,900
On sale: Now
Indian origin executives leading top technology firms
Sundar Pichai
Chief executive, Google and Alphabet
Satya Nadella
Chief executive, Microsoft
Ajaypal Singh Banga
President and chief executive, Mastercard
Shantanu Narayen
Chief executive, chairman, and president, Adobe
Indra Nooyi
Board of directors, Amazon and former chief executive, PepsiCo
Points about the fast fashion industry Celine Hajjar wants everyone to know
- Fast fashion is responsible for up to 10 per cent of global carbon emissions
- Fast fashion is responsible for 24 per cent of the world's insecticides
- Synthetic fibres that make up the average garment can take hundreds of years to biodegrade
- Fast fashion labour workers make 80 per cent less than the required salary to live
- 27 million fast fashion workers worldwide suffer from work-related illnesses and diseases
- Hundreds of thousands of fast fashion labourers work without rights or protection and 80 per cent of them are women
PROFILE OF CURE.FIT
Started: July 2016
Founders: Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori
Based: Bangalore, India
Sector: Health & wellness
Size: 500 employees
Investment: $250 million
Investors: Accel, Oaktree Capital (US); Chiratae Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital, Kalaari Capital, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Piramal Group’s Anand Piramal, Pratithi Investment Trust, Ratan Tata (India); and Unilever Ventures (Unilever’s global venture capital arm)
Top goalscorers in Europe
34 goals - Robert Lewandowski (68 points)
34 - Ciro Immobile (68)
31 - Cristiano Ronaldo (62)
28 - Timo Werner (56)
25 - Lionel Messi (50)
*29 - Erling Haaland (50)
23 - Romelu Lukaku (46)
23 - Jamie Vardy (46)
*NOTE: Haaland's goals for Salzburg count for 1.5 points per goal. Goals for Dortmund count for two points per goal.
'Ghostbusters: From Beyond'
Director: Jason Reitman
Starring: Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace
Rating: 2/5
Roll%20of%20Honour%2C%20men%E2%80%99s%20domestic%20rugby%20season
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EWest%20Asia%20Premiership%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EChampions%3A%20Dubai%20Tigers%0D%3Cbr%3ERunners%20up%3A%20Bahrain%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20Premiership%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EChampions%3A%20Jebel%20Ali%20Dragons%0D%3Cbr%3ERunners%20up%3A%20Dubai%20Hurricanes%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20Division%201%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EChampions%3A%20Dubai%20Sharks%0D%3Cbr%3ERunners%20up%3A%20Abu%20Dhabi%20Harlequins%20II%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20Division%202%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EChampions%3A%20Dubai%20Tigers%20III%0D%3Cbr%3ERunners%20up%3A%20Dubai%20Sharks%20II%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDubai%20Sevens%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EChampions%3A%20Dubai%20Tigers%0D%3Cbr%3ERunners%20up%3A%20Dubai%20Hurricanes%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
What is a black hole?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Oppenheimer
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EChristopher%20Nolan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ECillian%20Murphy%2C%20Emily%20Blunt%2C%20Robert%20Downey%20Jr%2C%20Florence%20Pugh%2C%20Matt%20Damon%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E5%2F5%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
BLACK%20ADAM
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Jaume%20Collet-Serra%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dwayne%20Johnson%2C%20Sarah%20Shahi%2C%20Viola%20Davis%2C%20Pierce%20Brosnan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
One-off T20 International: UAE v Australia
When: Monday, October 22, 2pm start
Where: Abu Dhabi Cricket, Oval 1
Tickets: Admission is free
Australia squad: Aaron Finch (captain), Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Darcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa, Peter Siddle
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
THE SPECS
Jaguar F-Pace SVR
Engine: 5-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Power: 542bhp
Torque: 680Nm
Price: Dh465,071
WISH
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirectors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Chris%20Buck%2C%20Fawn%20Veerasunthorn%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ariana%20DeBose%2C%20Chris%20Pine%2C%20Alan%20Tudyk%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Race card
1.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 50,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
2pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 84,000 (D) 1,400m
2.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh 60,000 (D) 1,200m
3pm: Conditions (TB) Dh 100,000 (D) 1.950m
3.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 76,000 (D) 1,800m
4pm: Maiden (TB) Dh 60,000 (D) 1,600m
4.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 68,000 (D) 1,000m
Lowest Test scores
26 - New Zealand v England at Auckland, March 1955
30 - South Africa v England at Port Elizabeth, Feb 1896
30 - South Africa v England at Birmingham, June 1924
35 - South Africa v England at Cape Town, April 1899
36 - South Africa v Australia at Melbourne, Feb. 1932
36 - Australia v England at Birmingham, May 1902
36 - India v Australia at Adelaide, Dec. 2020
38 - Ireland v England at Lord's, July 2019
42 - New Zealand v Australia in Wellington, March 1946
42 - Australia v England in Sydney, Feb. 1888
Ibrahim's play list
Completed an electrical diploma at the Adnoc Technical Institute
Works as a public relations officer with Adnoc
Apart from the piano, he plays the accordion, oud and guitar
His favourite composer is Johann Sebastian Bach
Also enjoys listening to Mozart
Likes all genres of music including Arabic music and jazz
Enjoys rock groups Scorpions and Metallica
Other musicians he likes are Syrian-American pianist Malek Jandali and Lebanese oud player Rabih Abou Khalil