between february and august 1985, sade enlisted the same team of producers they worked with on "diamond life". the band co-produced "promise" with robin millar, mike pela, and ben rogan, the latter of which played a less central role in the production. some of the album's sessions took place during a two-week sojourn in provence, utilising an ssl e-series console housed at the barn-shaped, concrete-built studio miraval. however, the majority of the album was recorded at power plant studios in london, where the project commenced in february 1985 and concluded seven months later, with the mix being done in the gallery (studio three) located on the top floor, with its 44-channel harrison mr3. studio one is where the production team initially listened to several of the songs in demo form, although pela was at the royal albert hall when he first heard one of the new tracks. like their debut album, "promise" was recorded live, though it featured the use of technology, sampling drums by way of an ams with a lock-in feature.