Is Sade’s “Nothing Can Come Between Us” Acid House?

I saw someone describe Sade’s “Nothing Can Come Between Us” as acid house, and I don’t think so.

I don't even understand why someone might make the connection.

It did come out in 1988, right as acid house was exploding in the UK, and there is something about that repetitive bassline, percussion and stripped-back groove that feels surprisingly close to club music from the same period.

But acid house has a much more specific musical identity, particularly the squelching Roland TB-303 bass sound at the centre of records by artists like Phuture.

“Nothing Can Come Between Us” doesn’t really have that.

The original is much closer to R&B, soul and funk, built around Paul Denman’s bass, Andrew Hale’s keyboards, percussion and that tight rhythm guitar.

Sade was getting surprisingly close to dance music, but I usually put it in the downtempo, chill room sound rather than acid house.

There is a 12-inch of “Nothing Can Come Between Us” that had “Make Some Room” on the B-side, and that track gets much closer to the acid-house conversation, with a synth line that sounds remarkably like a 303.

So “Nothing Can Come Between Us” acid house... No.

But Sade in 1988 was closer to what was happening in underground dance music than is given credit for.