Seal IV

Performer: Seal
Artist: Jeff Beck; Joni Mitchell
Producer: Trevor Horn
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Personnel includes: Seal (vocals, guitar, bass); Chris Bruce (guitar, bass); Tim Pierce, Gus Isadore, Tim Cansfield (guitar); Pete Murray (piano, keyboards); Mark Baston (keyboards, programming); Jamie Muhoberac (keyboards);Ian Thomas, Earl Harvin (drums); Luis Jardim (percussion); Alan Griffiths (programming); Tessa Niles (background vocals). All set to record what would become SEAL IV, the album's namesake ended up tossing a large number of tracks and returned to his London hometown to start anew after living in Los Angeles for 12 years. The result is a dozen songs with a gritty texture that better reflect the Paddington-born native's affinity for soul and reggae more so than prior work. Blessed with a burnished vocal style, Seal uses it to great effect whether he's growling out the intro to irresistible numbers like the swaggering "Waiting for You" or sounding like a cross between Teddy Pendergrass and Bobby Womack on the party invitation "Get It Together." Longtime producer Trevor Horn keeps a steady hand on the rudder, executing a concise balance of lush orchestral arrangements and ethereal keyboards on songs ranging from the ambient lovemaking invitation "Heavenly...(Good Feeling)" or the can't-miss slow jam "Don't Make Me Wait." Seal's considerable talents find him bouncing between sweeping epics such as the heavenly "Love's Divine" and snappier fare like "Let Me Roll," where this prim and proper Brit gets to strike a good-natured, faux b-boy pose.

Seal helped put heart and soul back in pop music during the 1990s. His music is often full of electronics yet always organic (thanks in no small part to super-producer Trevor Horn). The UK singer/songwriter started out trolling around the British acid house scene and collaborating with Adamski, but before long he'd emerged as a full-blown pop artist, turning out highly accessible tunes with a grand, orchestral production aesthetic. His 1995 "Kiss from a Rose" was a massive international hit, and made him a multiple Grammy winner.

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