SPEAKING to The Post just days before the release of “System,” his first album in four years, Seal treats us to a song – but the song he sings isn’t his. He serenades us with “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley, to make the point that when you imbue a dance song with genuine emotion, you’ve hit the musical jackpot.
“The problem with a lot of dance music is, it’s quite disposable,” says the London-born songsmith. “But when a dance track comes along that has an emotional impact, it resonates through people like nothing else. ‘Crazy’ was a dance track, but it was really a great song with a great sentiment.”
Seal hopes that music lovers will soon be raving about “Amazing,” the first single off “System,” much as they did about the Barkley hit.
“It’s about the ebbs and flows of life,” he says of his new single, “and going through a dark period and coming out the other end. It’s a general allegory for life – the world through my eyes.”
Seal himself once wrote a soulful dance hit called “Crazy.” It was the 1991 single that first brought him to the attention of America – before he scored massive success and two Grammys with “Kiss from a Rose” a few years later.
While Seal discusses the importance of giving dance music an emotional core, he confesses that pulling it off is more challenging than some might realize.
“I don’t profess to know the secret. I’m just happy if I can write a good song,” he says. “With me, it always starts with the song. ‘Do I have something to say, and if so, do I feel compelled enough to put it into music?’ Because if I don’t believe it, then no one else will.”
Seal considers “System” a return to his roots, as he concentrated more on the core of the songs than on their dance-y adornments.
“This was more returning to the way I used to write,” he says, “with an acoustic guitar accompanying the voice, using very simple chords with interesting inversions, and leaving it to the voice to create unique melodies.”
To help him achieve his desired effect, Seal worked with Stuart Price, who has produced Madonna and won Grammy awards remixing No Doubt and Coldplay. At first, as Price is based in London and Seal in L.A., the two sent material back and forth over the Internet.
“It was amazing,” says Seal. “I would send him multi-tracks, and three or four days later, he would send back his interpretation of what I had been doing. I just got so turned on to what he’d done to the songs, I thought, ‘This guy’s the one.'”
Seal says that not only did Price take his inspired, emotional ideas and bring them into focus, but the distance also allowed him a rare creative freedom.
“Writing music is all about being uninhibited, and not being afraid to take chances,” he says. “When you’re by yourself, you’ll try anything, and it’s often the mistakes that are the most gripping or special – the beautiful mistakes.”
The other undeniable factor influencing his songwriting is his domesticity. Seal is married to supermodel Heidi Klum, and they have three young children. He says that being a husband and father is the most vital piece of the creative puzzle in expanding his worldview and music.
“Having a family kind of slows you down, but in a really positive way,” he says. “It forces you to look at the world through their eyes, and in doing so makes you more open and reflective.”