Sade: Lovers Rock (National Album Day 2026, transparent vinyl) [SONY MUSIC CG]

Why you'll love it

National Album Day 2026 brings Lovers Rock back on limited transparent vinyl. The album won the 2002 Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album and went triple platinum in the US. Spin called it "demo-like in its simplicity."

This edition

• National Album Day 2026 limited edition
• Transparent vinyl

About the album

Eight years separate Love Deluxe (1992) from Lovers Rock, and the band spent them unhurried. Sessions drifted from September 1999 to August 2000 between Sarm Hook End in Oxfordshire, London and El Cortijo in southern Spain, with the band producing alongside their longtime collaborator Mike Pela. The title nods to lovers rock, the romantic strain of British reggae Sade Adu grew up on.

It is the sparest LP in their catalogue. The saxophone of the earlier records has gone, and in its place is space: acoustic guitar, a little dub echo, and a reggae pulse moving quietly underneath. "By Your Side" and "King Of Sorrow" were its singles.

Also at Kops: Lovers Rock (half-speed master). More in 70s Soul On Up.

Tracklist

Tracks (in album order)
By Your Side
Flow
King Of Sorrow
Somebody Already Broke My Heart
All About Our Love
Slave Song
The Sweetest Gift
Every Word
Immigrant
Lovers Rock
It's Only Love That Gets You Through

Listen

Out October 16, 2026 on Sony Music (cat# 19958470221), a reissue of the 2000 album.