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October 8th, 2008
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Soul with heart

Seal has gone sentimental, with upbeat rhythms and no apologies
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By James Scanlon
For The Prague Post
July 2nd, 2008 issue

COURTESY PHOTO
Seal


When: Tuesday, July 8, at 9
Where: Arena HC Sparta Praha
Tickets: 700-1,600 Kč, available through Ticketpro and at the venue
If you’re feeling down or lacking in self-esteem, it seems that Seal has found the perfect antidote for you with his latest hit song, “Amazing.” With lines like “I want you to always feel you’re amazing” delivered in his own inimitable husky soul voice, the song more than echoes the seismic shift in good fortune that has come his way of late.
Born Sealhenry Olumide Samuel to Nigerian parents, Seal spent most of his formative years in foster care. After years of trying to get a grip on the London music scene, and not getting much further than making tea for the likes of Big Audio Dynamite, he eventually hooked up with rave whiz kid Adamski. The two hatched a plan to pioneer a new era in dance/rave crossover sounds, releasing the single “Killer” in 1990, a time when British clubbers were dropping Ecstasy like there was no tomorrow. It went to the top of the UK charts.
Seal continued to fine-tune his newfound winning formula, coming under the wing of one Trevor Horn, who signed him to ZTT. (Meanwhile, Adamski’s career sank into deep obscurity and he was never heard of again.) With Horn at the production helm of his eponymously titled debut solo album, Seal unleashed the album’s ultimate standout track, “Crazy.” Hypnotic, menacing and incredibly infectious, it turned him into a global household name.
Seal’s songs thrived on the darker side of his emotions, yet employed a rather odd dichotomy that also offered glimmers of hope. He scored his biggest hit with “Kiss From A Rose,” no doubt helped by its inclusion on the sountrack of the movie Batman Forever.
Then his career took an odd turn, with Seal apparently feeling the need to portray a more mature, serious side. He said goodbye to all the early dance grooves and became arty, erudite and cringingly pretentious.
Off the radar for a number of years — some might say past his sell-by date — he’s now enjoying something of an Indian summer since recruiting DJ/producer Stuart Price for production duties on his latest album, System. Responsible for producing Madonna’s Confessions on a Dance Floor and various other Grammy award–winning tracks for No Doubt and Coldplay, Price’s influence seems to have rubbed off in a most positive way. Immersed in atmospheric hi-tech synth sounds and punctuated with sharp, pristine house rhythms, Seal returned to his old form. And, to top that, his voice has never sounded so good.
“This album is a return to my roots,” Seal acknowledges. “My first album was upbeat music that you could dance to, and I kind of departed from that as time went by. I also wanted to return to the guitar, the very first of my instruments. I had a really good time making this record — there was an excitement in the studio, a bit like the first record I made, only this time with a lot more peacefulness. This album is a celebration of life, I’ve got a strong feeling of happiness, [with] which I’d like to infect my listeners.”
As for where his inspiration comes from these days, look no further than German supermodel Heidi Klum. Married to Seal for three years now, in many ways Klum has been his salvation. It’s fitting, then, that she joins her man for one of System’s romantic duets, “Wedding Day.” “I was aware that this [track] might be treated as oversentimental and as a calculated marketing trick, but honestly, I said, I don’t care,” Seal confides. “The same as, I don’t care if I hear that we are too saccharine. The “Wedding Day” ballad is my tribute to love, written for the woman I adore. I have been trying to persuade Heidi to do a collaborative performance for a long time, without success.”
Seal worked a deal by recently performing “Amazing” surrounded by scantily clad beauty queens, including his wife, on the catwalk at a Victoria’s Secret fashion show. “What man could resist performing on stage in the company of such beautiful women? I couldn’t,” he says. “When we started negotiations about my performance at the fashion show, I joked, ‘You see, now a fashion show is my department too.’ So my wife treated it like a challenge — if her husband can perform at a fashion show, she can sing onstage.”
Klum will unfortunately not be part of his Prague performance, for which he’s bringing his usual group of backup musicians. “I’ve been satisfied with this lineup for many years,” he says. “This will be our second visit to Prague, and we are looking forward to this concert.”

James Scanlon can be reached at features@praguepost.com


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