Sade’s new release, Lovers Rock, slipped onto music shelves last November to acclaim. In this era of media-crowned divas, lead vocalist Sade Adu’s sultry voice and exotic beauty are the perfect formula for success. Adu and her band, the ensemble that is Sade, prove that they are much deeper than this formula; their music is an invention, not a recipe.

Sade re-emerged late last year after a six-year hiatus, following their 1994 release, The Best of Sade. The band has been together for more than 15 years, developing a sound that flexes easily between the jazzy sounds that are their standard, to the funkier sounds on Lovers Rock.

The new material is not completely different from hits like 1984’s “Smooth Operator,” but the band has modernized their soft jazz. These songs include raw acoustic guitar, and some of the lyrics sound take on a quicker pace akin to rap.

Bassist Paul Spencer Denman supports Sade’s sound with a technique foreign from his ’70s punk roots, yet he maintains an edge that keeps the bassline interesting. Stuart Matthewman plays guitars and saxophone, adding even more diversity to their sound. Andrew Hale manipulates the keyboards and piano into the groove of the songs; the listener must pay attention to hear exactly where one instrument stops and another starts. This fusion of sound reinforces the existence of Sade as a band, not just a diva with back up.

The album, like Adu’s voice, is subtly eclectic. Two or more listens to Lovers Rock reveals its quiet secrets, but an impatient browsing of the tracks does not.

Sade’s sound is soft jazz, with a dozen other influences peppering the shoreline of the album’s progression. The first single, “By Your Side,” is a serenade that reveals the breathy, rich sound that permeates the album. About half the album consists of love songs, both laments and exaltations.

The upcoming single, “King of Sorrow,” addresses sadness in a poignant highlight on the album. Adu proclaims, “I’m crying everyone’s tears.” Tribal drumming on “Slave Song” and a catching vocal melody on “Immigrant” are the backdrop for social commentary in the lyrics. Sade addresses racism with the image, “He didn’t know what it was to be black/ `til they gave him his change/ and didn’t want to touch his hand.”

Lovers Rock politely denies the formula for success by mixing a “diva” with an irreplaceable band. It is a mellow group of songs, which necessitate the attentiveness of the listener. But it is attention worth paying when you discover the ingenuity of Sade’s sound. A-