![sade be that easy sade be that easy](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9e/29/a6/9e29a62f4bc2473d29cb192c67147a0e.jpg)
It wouldn’t be an entirely inaccurate descriptor. But many have used it in reference to Sade- as Jacob Bernstein writes in a 2017 piece for The New York Times, you once upon a time might have stepped into a record store and found their albums in the easy listening section. The term “easy listening” bothers me, as if it implies that the music in question is less worthy or complex simply for its soothing appeal. Without harsh overtures or too many instruments, this melody makes no insistent demand on your attention but manages to claim it all the same. In the days following my personal rediscovery of their music I found myself listening for hours on end, in times of contemplation or creation as well as in busier moments. There’s a generosity about Sade, a glowing and golden-toned invitation to still, and to notice, for just a few minutes.
![sade be that easy sade be that easy](https://i1.sndcdn.com/artworks-000185701225-skqwp0-t500x500.jpg)
But don’t bristle at the aberrations, Sade seems to say- no, catch hold of the love they pass between them instead, leaning into each another on the emptied street, blinking against the newborn sun. Outside the window, a middle-aged couple walk past, shaking out raincoats and plastic grocery bags clutched in white-gloved hands as they speak to each other from under the masks plastered to their mouths and noses. For a moment, I don’t want to run, either-despite the hours and hours I’ve spent between these four walls, I want to stay right here in the midst of a song unearthing whatever beauty remains around me. Sunlight starts to arc over the rain-soaked pavement, and Sade’s honeyed voice settles over the room: cherish the day / I won’t go astray / I won’t be afraid / you won’t find me running. On a quiet Sunday afternoon, a summer thunderstorm gentles into showers then stops entirely, and the steel ball of tension that’s found a home in my chest dissipates just as gradually.