SEAL will forever be the middle-man in the mid-90s mix-tape that still resides in the glove box of your car. Firmly sandwiched between Wet Wet Wet's Love Is All Around and Meatloaf's I'd Do Anything For Love, his Kiss From A Rose has become a favouri
te of wedding discos and dodgy nostalgia radio stations.
What happened next? It's almost as if the mainstream forgot about the Londoner until he hooked up with model Heidi Klum, produced an ever-expanding brood of beautiful children and started renewing his wedding vows every year in ever more unusual circumstances.
Seal has not slipped away into the easy, paparazzi-friendly early retirement of many 90s stars, though. He has continued to produce albums and enjoyed considerable success with a number of other hits that bring back a flood of fond memories from the past 15 years. It's just that in the blinding light of all those flash bulbs, it's easy to forget what he was famous for in the first place.
Opening his set at the Playhouse with Human Beings, a few early technical glitches saw the gig get off to a rocky start. By his second song, though – the 1990 Adamski-produced breakthrough hit Killer – the hitches had melted away and the audience were treated to an array of old favourites, such as Prayer For The Dying and a series 70s classics from new album Soul.
Following the current trend for covers albums, Seal has gone back to the roots of his US influenced musical upbringing in soul, albeit with a more political agenda.
Influenced by the recent election of Barack Obama and a chance encounter with Sam Cooke's Civil Rights anthem A Change Is Gonna Come, the album is a tribute to his adopted homeland, and while critics debate the merits of the musician's choice of populist, over-exposed songs to cover, as opposed to more obscure tracks, they sit well within the show's set.
The live performance of A Man's Man's Man's World, in particular, has the rich vocal resonance and electricity that's missing from the version most people will only hear on their MP3.
With a spectacular light-show in the background and an eclectic blend of musical styles jostling together, it's all too easy to pass a comfortable couple of hours in the singer's energetic company.
Stopping midway through his set to chat with the audience, he even managed to throw in an impromptu chorus of Happy Birthday for a cheeky fan from New Jersey.
Seal is certainly fan friendly. While he protests the political meanings of his new album, one can't help but think that audience-pleasing classics don't half work well with the host of interactive tools on his website that help fans take part in the show long after it's over – sharing photos, watching You Tube posts, listening to Heart radio's backstage coverage.
All very participatory, and a more than adequate advert for what amounts to a rather average album.
