UK band Zed Soul released a new single, a remake of Babyface's 1986 song "I Love You Babe," as part of SoulTracks' First Listen series on August 17. Zed Soul is the project of British songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Amar Naik, with singer Bobby Bonev handling lead vocals.
The original "I Love You Babe" appeared on Babyface's 1986 debut album, Lovers, an up-tempo ballad built on a bumping bassline. Babyface's own "soft and buttery" tenor carried lyrics about a man willing to do the work to make a relationship succeed, trying to convince his partner to do the same. SoulTracks writer Howard Dukes said Zed Soul's version captures the sonics of that original from both an arrangement and vocal standpoint, while pushing further into saxophone improvisation; Bonev's tenor was described as carrying the same youthful quality as Babyface's, with the range to move into falsetto.
Those Words, which came out in May, captures the smooth and sophisticated R&B sound fans heard in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and "I Love You Babe" is the only cover on an otherwise all-original record.
SoulTracks framed the release as part of a broader European appetite for American R&B, noting that countries like England have supported a vibrant soul, funk and neo-soul scene for 50 years.
"I Love You Babe" is out now, one of the week's new R&B and soul arrivals on the release calendar.
The facts
- New single "I Love You Babe" featured in SoulTracks' First Listen on August 17
- A remake of Babyface's 1986 song from his debut album Lovers
- Comes from Zed Soul's own album Those Words, released in May 2026
- Those Words is styled after late-1980s and early-1990s R&B
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