Originally formed in 1982 by Bremen, Germany-based DJ Ralph “von” Richoven, Saada Bonaire was a studio project based around two, young and very sultry German vocalists and a diverse backing band whose sound could be described as a slick fusion of Eastern instrumentation, dub aesthetics and late 70s and early 80s disco production values. Signed to EMI Records in 1983, their first and (sadly) only single “You Could Be More As You Are” was produced in Kraftwerk’s studio by Dennis Bovell, who was known for his work with Matumbi, Stilts and Pop Group. Just as the hoped for big hit was about to be released, a highly publicized scandal at EMI scrapped the single and its release. 

At the time, Saada Bonaire’s A&R guy was notorious for exceeding his budgets. In fact, he spent triple his allowance on the Bremen-baseda act, and as a result, he was warned. His next project was Tina Turner’s “Private Dancer.” And as “Private Dancer” shot up the charts, EMI decided to pull the plug on all promotional support for Saada Bonaire and all future plans for the act. 

Shortly after, the band disappeared, seemingly without much of a trace – that is until, the folks at Captured Tracks got their hands on the two tracks that would have comprised Saada Bonaire’s first single, “You Could Be More As You Are” and “The Facts, along with 11 unreleased singles recorded between 1982 and 1985. 

"The Facts” is the second single from the album that Captured Tracks has packaged as the Bremen-based act’s self-titled full length. In some way, the song obviously sounds as though it were recorded in the early 80s, thanks to the 808 synthesizer drum breakbeat but it also manages to sound as though a contemporary electro pop act was paying homage to the sound of the 80s in some way, I was reminded a little bit of Chaka Khan’s fantastic, I Feel For You as i listened to this one. 

The vocalists use a speak-song cadence to deliver lyrics that sound like poorly written abstract poetry and non sequiturs or as though the vocalists have a poor grasp of English – all while sound seductive. Adding to the seductiveness of the material is the Eastern-sounding saxophone and synth lines throughout the track.