Seal (1994) - review

There has always been a cleanliness about Seal that lost him credability in the contemporary music scene. His album covers are invariably touched-up, glossy affairs, and his backing music, on the surface, is skillfully anonymous. Competent, yet safe. All these aspects become slightly irrelevant however when you go back to the root, the core, the most important thing in relation to Seal's music- his voice. Seal as a writer, and as a human being is extremely interesting to listen to. He's not a controversial person, he's a content person, so it's always going to take that little bit of extra effort and investigation on the part of the consumer to really see what makes him such an engaging figure.

His second self-titled release has been dubbed 'the ballad album' by many fans because of the amount of grand musical masterpieces such as 'Don't cry', 'Prayer for the dying' and 'Kiss from a rose', it goes deeper than the ballads though, this 1994 album, unlike any of his works since (which have all been quality albums I should say) has yet to be surpassed in his career for the sheer amount of conviction and passion in his voice, as well as the musical excellence achieved by Trevor Horn- Seals producer and master musical craftsman. None of his albums since have simultaneously created such fresh, experimental music, whilst also making it this accessible to the masses. There is such a thing as good pop music.

It is the hidden gems, the tracks that grow on you with time that truly make this album a classic. 'Dreaming in metaphors' is one of the first really interesting tracks, while 'Fast changes' remains one of the most interesting songs Seal & Trevor Horn have ever made together. The mixture of Indian strings and tabla, with folk-style guitar makes a musical hybrid that can only be described as joyfully tender, listen for the insane climax of strings that could have come directly from a Bollywood film towards the end of the track. 'People asking why' is probably one of my favorite songs however, simply because of the fact that Seal does something very different with his voice. As someone who has all of his albums, I, and I assume all of his fans, often take his amazing melodies and voice for granted. Those amazing high, cinematic climaxes don't always astound us once we've heard them a hundred and one times, and that's where 'People asking why' has always impressed me so much. It is, despite it's quietly upbeat rhythm, a very sombre song. The voice truly dominates the music, and as the inevitable climax comes, it's not in the form of a loud wail or reverberating, overdubbed voice, but simply one wounded high pitched cry somewhere on 3:20, how about that for vulnerability?

The beautiful chorus of 'Newborn friend' is a rare example of a vocalist creating lyrics as beautiful as the melody itself, "If I chant for happiness, maybe that will make me feel better". The lyrics, as always, are open to interpretation, and whilst he sometimes runs the risk of sounding like just another mindless pop-singer, he always seems to get the balance just right, and put your ears and brain at ease, safe in the knowledge that this amazing voice is not just singing hollow words from no experience. There is such a thing as good pop-music, this is another example of a soundtrack to life, melodies & messages this pure are praiseworthy.

Y.Misdaq aka Yoshi, 20 Oct 2003