How Emeli Sande made musical magic with Bowie and Madonna collaborator Nile Rodgers

Emeli Sande says she was intimidated by being in the same room as Get Lucky mastermind Nile Rodgers, but their work has paid off.

Singer Emeli Sandé and Nile Rodgers are unlikely collaborators.

Singer-songwriter Emeli Sande went back to her vault of unfinished tracks for her latest hit.

The Clown singer has hundreds of songs waiting to have the final touches put on them.

It was during successive Covid lockdowns bunkered down at home in London that the Scottish raised Sande cracked open her stash of demos to complete.

“There’s so many unfinished ideas, from voice memos to rough cuts from studios,” Sande says.

“That is something I definitely want to work on, trying to finish more things. My favourite part of the whole process is the beginning part where the idea comes from and then you get these rough demos. There’s so many songs I think I would have to take two years off to finish them all.”

The result of opening the vault is Sande’s latest single, a track called When Someone Loves You, featuring multiple Grammy Award winner Nile Rodgers.

The pair met a couple of years back when Sande worked with Rodgers on his last album. During a studio session, they came up with the bones of the new track that is finally being heard.

Singer Emeli Sandé with Nile Rogers. Picture: Supplied

It is a song that reflects the freedom Sande is feeling in life, professionally and personally.

“Just kind of the freedom I feel in my life and just happiness just makes life great,” she says. “Having the freedom to be more movable with the songs and put things out quicker – this whole era has just been so much more liberated.”

The new single comes a few months after the release of her independently released fourth studio album, Let’s Say For Instance.

Working with Rodgers, she says, was “intimidating”. Funk and disco great Rodgers, 70, first found fame as the founder of Chic, and also produced albums for David Bowie, Madonna and Duran Duran. He won three Grammy Awards in 2014 for his work with Daft Punk and Pharrell Williams on Get Lucky and the album, Random Access Memories.

“I’ve been such a huge fan since I was a kid, him as a producer, musician, artist,” she says. “He’s just, I mean, he’s a legend. So to step into Abbey Road Studio and work with him, it was quite daunting because I didn’t know how he would be. But when you meet him, he’s just really grounded, very humble and his, you know, genuine passion for music comes through. He’s not pretentious about it. We just got down to the music and also his trust … he trusted me to get in the vocal booth and kind of just do my thing. And I think that’s when music turns out to be the most beautiful, when everyone feels at peace to be themselves.”

Sande’s other biggest hits include tracks Heaven, Next To Me, Free (with Rudimental), and Beneath Your Beautiful.

Emeli Sandé raided her vault for her new song When Someone Loves You.

She concedes some might have considered the new track an unlikely partnership.

“I guess it is quite unlikely … that was the first time I had met Nile,” she says. “That’s what I love, the spontaneity of it all. And I think that’s what the freedom brings. Things like this can come about and get finished and actually get out there and it feels great.”

In her personal life, Sande recently went public with her long-term romance with partner, classical pianist Yoana Karemova.

“Love makes everything just more beautiful,” she says. “It is the greatest thing to feel truly loved and understood by somebody.”
Sande has toured Australia previously and is hoping to schedule some dates Down Under.

“I have always loved music from when I was really young. It is one thing to love music, but then to be in the music industry, it’s quite a thing and something I’ve learned is protecting that true passion and love for it.

“I really feel that having experienced so many different versions of being in the music industry now, this feels like the best one. I feel I can truly express my passion. I will never stop making music. It’s something that I have to do even on my days off. As long as people want to hear it, I’m happy to make it.”

Emeli Sande is hoping to return to Australia for shows soon.

While Sande’s emotional lyrics are a go-to for so many, she reveals a surprising name as being among her favourite artists.

“Whitney Houston for sure,” she says. “I mean, I’ll always go to Whitney, whatever mood I’m in and just hearing what she does virtually blows my mind. So Whitney and Nina Simone, I could play all day, she takes me to another space. For some music you listen to change your mood, and then there’s others to kind of dig deeper into your soul and Nina is definitely that one for me.”

At 35, Sande is far too young to be thinking about legacy. But when asked what a film about her life would say, she says: “I hope it would represent that you can define your own rules and your own person. My whole life lesson has been to stop trying to find a box to fit in, to enjoy the fact you can be your own mosaic. So I hope if they ever made a film, it would be something along those lines.”

* Emeli Sande and Nile Rodgers track, When Someone Loves You, is out now. Sande’s album, Let’s Say For Instance, is also out now.