System - Seal

Seal stepped onto the British house-music scene in 1991 with the Adamski dance single “Killer”, and has never looked back. He won three Grammy’s for his 1995 single "Kiss from a Rose", and now Seal’s latest single “Amazing” has also been nominated for a Grammy award. The release of his 5th studio album, System celebrates a return to a sound that has a clear connection to his earlier work. The album is upbeat and enticing, and his first since 2003’s Seal IV. Seal stated that, for this album, he wanted to return to the fundamentals of what he loves to do, by going back to the guitar – the instrument he wrote “Crazy” and “Killer” on.

If you look at the album cover, you automatically expect at least some form of eccentricity from the artist. Or maybe you’ll just be scared. Either way, the music is great and that is the most important thing. If you are a fan of his earlier work, you will certainly be hooked again. In true Seal style the tracks allow for a lazy stare at the ocean sunset, or dancing until dawn. The album’s title track, according to Seal, is “…saying that against the odds, we have chosen to take control of our emotional system. Not being a victim of a system that’s already in place, but creating our own.”

Seal and long-time producer Trevor Horn have gone their separate ways and Seal hired Stuart Price to revive the house-inflected sound of “Crazy” for System. Price also collaborated with Madonna for her calculatedly retro-disco Confessions on a Dance floor. The results speak for themselves: A sound that doesn’t reach too far back into the electro-past, but succeeds in stirring up nostalgia for those who remember the 90’s.

Seal’s marriage to supermodel Heidi Klum is said to be one of the key reasons why this album was so highly anticipated. The “Beauty and the Beast” marriage made headlines in 2005, but since then the couple has had two children of their own, whilst Seal also became the adoptive father of Klum’s daughter with Flavio Briatore. “Family, my wife and children, that’s my reason for being,” Seal says. “Everything is done with them in mind, so perhaps that’s the reason this new album is uptempo. It does feel like a celebration of life.”

The album features a duet with Heidi entitled: “Wedding day”. Seal apparently wrote the song the morning of their wedding. How ever sweet this may sound, wedding jitters and composing clearly do not go hand in hand. Heidi can hold a note, yes, but the song lacks what is evident in other tracks. It stands out from the album, but not for the right reasons.

Forgive this tiny flaw, and you have a superb album on your hands. It makes for great memory making music, and is bound to get you dancing during the holiday season.