New Sade On The Way

Sade Adu, the reclusive "quiet storm" soul signer who takes notoriously long breaks between releases, has regrouped with the band that bears her name and is recording her first album of new material since 2000's "Lovers Rock," Billboard.com sources confirm. The group is in the studio through June and Sony hopes to put the record out by the end of 2009 though, despite rumors, there is no set release date on the calendar. "She is in the studio and the album will come when it is ready," a source at Sony tells Billboard. "You don't wait for years for one and then rush it." Sade's longtime bandmate Stuart Matthewman, a.k.a. Cottonbelly, also confirms that new material is in progress, though he says the project is still in its "early days" and won't be close to finished until "later in the year."

Last week, it was rumored that the album will be released on November 24, 2009.