An old-fashioned soul album by a new-fashioned soul singer. That was about the idea behind Soul, the cover album that Seal released in late 2008. And with his unmistakable singing qualities, he did fine, of course, although we would have liked to hear a little more pain and sweat at the time. In that respect, we are served by this CD, on which Seal brings Soul's songs to an audience. From the first
… beat it is clear that the songs benefit from the live setting. Seal still does not go all the way in, but there are actually some scratches on his supposed infallible voice. And perhaps more importantly: both the vocals and the accompaniment sound a lot more lively and spontaneous than on the studio album. The icing on the cake is a DVD with acoustic versions and an exclusive interview with Seal and producer David Foster. (MS)more
