On October 9, Sony Music will release a six-LP retrospective boxed set by Sade. Titled This Far, it will feature remastered versions of all the British band’s studio albums to date: Diamond Life (1984), Promise (1985), Stronger than Pride (1988), Love Deluxe (1992), Lovers Rock (2000), and Soldier of Love (2010). The music has been pressed onto 180-gram heavyweight black vinyl, slipped into replica album sleeves, and packaged in a white casebound box.
All four members of the group—singer Sade Adu, saxophonist/guitarist Stuart Matthewman, keyboardist Andrew Hale, and bassist Paul Spencer Denman—were involved in the remastering process at London’s Abbey Road Studios, alongside mastering engineer Miles Showell and the band’s longtime co-producer Mike Pela. Using high-resolution digital transfers of the original stereo masters, Showell cut the new discs at half-speed with a restored Neumann VMS80 lathe. No additional digital limiting was employed.
Teasing title aside, This Far gives no indication as to whether we can expect to hear any new music from Sade in the near future. The band’s last album, which charted at No. 1 in 15 countries, including the United States, was released 10 years ago, and their last world tour was in 2011.
Not that they need to be in any rush to get back to work, of course; the six Sade albums have sold about 60 million copies worldwide and have been certified platinum 24 times over, producing singles such as “Smooth Operator,” “Your Love Is King,” and “By Your Side.”
This Far is available to pre-order now.