Sade Was The First Artist To Record At Brad Pitt’s Newly Renovated Recording Studio At Chateau Miraval
Why sage when you can Sade? I think that’s what Brad Pitt’s going for with the launch of Miraval Studios, a state-of-the-art recording studio he had built on the grounds of Chateau Miraval, the winery he owns with the Russians his ex-wife Angelina Jolie sold her shares to as part of their divorce proceedings. According to Billboard, after a year-long renovation (which included Brad’s $1 million salt-water pool and other expenses, he’s currently being sued for $250 million by his new, unwelcome business partners at Stoli) of the existing studio that was built at the Chateau in 1977, Miraval Studios is now open for business. And Sade was the very first artist to bless that mess.
Sade, both the lady and the band of that name (look, I had no idea either. I thought sista was a solo artist doing it fuh huhself!) haven’t released a studio album in over a decade. According to The Fader, in a press release announcing Billboard’s cover story about Brad and his partner, French producer-engineer Damien Quintard’s studio, Sade the band announced that they are working on a new album, “a follow-up to Sade’s last LP, 2010’s Soldier of Love.” Talk about burying the lede! I couldn’t care less about the “three editing booths for video and sound, production offices, a room housing Quintard’s collection of 170-plus microphones, a recording studio and a live room known together as Studio One, a reverb room, a kitchen, an artist salon, two guest suites, a 115-foot saltwater pool and a rooftop that offers a 360-degree view of the estate”. Just give me some music I can masturbate to while I’m having my bubble bath. TF reports:
A new Sade album is reportedly in the works for the first time in over a decade. The news broke Monday (October 10), not via the Nigerian-born, Essex-bred soul superstar or her band, but in a Billboard cover interview with Brad Pitt and French producer Damien Quintard on their reopening and renovation of the historic Miraval Studios. Sade had already been announced as a slated future resident of the room, but Pitt and Quintard have now confirmed that — less than a year after the rebuild was announced — recording is already underway, and that Sade and her backing band are the space’s first official guests.
The group’s current project is, according to a press release announcing the Miraval cover story, a follow-up to Sade’s last LP, 2010’s Soldier of Love, though neither Pitt nor Quintard directly states in the article that the band is working on an album. Their most recent releases are two 2018 singles, “Flower of the Universe” and “The Big Unknown,” written for the soundtracks of A Wrinkle In Time and Windows, respectively. That same year, Sade’s saxophonist and guitarist Stuart Matthewman told Rated R&B that the band had a new record in the works, but it never materialized.
So, for all we know, Sade was just up in there for the complimentary bathrobes and bottomless sparkling Russian-rosé mimosas. Sade were returning guests, having recorded at the studio in its previous iteration before Brad put his “artistic” stank on it. Here’s a look at the new and improved studio and father of six with the son he always wanted.
I hate to laugh, but in that get-up, Brad could not look more like a man who owes money to some shady Russians if he tried. Even his face is saying, “I miss my knee caps already.” I’m sure Brad needs this venture to be a success, and as quickly as possible, since it seems clear he’s lost control over the winery side of things. But poor Brad’s not used to having to make a profit with his passion projects! He used to be able to give his genius away for free as a tax write-off. According to Billboard:
For Pitt, 58, Miraval Studios is the latest in a string of ventures related to Château Miraval, of which he owns 50%. (The other half belonged to Jolie before she sold her stake this summer to the Stoli-owned Tenute del Mondo. Pitt and Jolie are currently in a legal battle over the sale, as part of their ongoing divorce. Jolie has accused Pitt of abuse; his lawyer has said in a statement that “he’s not going to own anything he didn’t do … Brad will continue to respond in court.”) In September, Pitt announced his “genderless” skin care line, Le Domaine — founded with the Perrin family, Miraval’s vintners — which uses the estate’s antioxidant-rich grapes.
Through the pandemic, Pitt took up sculpting. (During our visit, his friend and famed artist Thomas Houseago works on his own pieces at the studio, though he briefly takes a break to get in on the lunch cooked by the private chef.) Prior to our chat, Pitt strums a few pleasant chords on the guitar — another new hobby — though he self-deprecatingly says that when he plays, “animals flee.”
Ah, it’s OK, Brad. I’m sure Damien can fix that for you in post. He only has to DO EVERYTHING AROUND HERE anyway.
What next, “heartbreak feels good in a place like this?” Get Nicole Kidman in there to record her new AMC ad, you fools! Here’s a closer look at Brad’s hail Mary attempt to control just one goddam thing in his life. Remotely and without too much oversight.
Pic: Billboard