Music: Sealed with a Kiss

It took four years, three producers and a broken heart to finish his new CD. It was all worth it

Zzzzzzzarrrrrrrzzzzzzarrrrr! The soul-rock singer Seal is mixing himself a weird-looking drink. It's a pale-green health-food shake that's not entirely dissimilar in color and consistency to what one imagines might be found growing on the side of a transatlantic ocean liner. ZZZZZarrrrr! The sound of the electric blender mixing this concoction fills Seal's roomy Manhattan hotel suite, making conversation impossible. He adds a few vitamins to the sludge. ZZZZZZZarrrrr! Finally, the shake is done. It has the quality of primordial ooze; you half expect creatures part fish, part mammal to crawl up out of it, looking to evolve their fins into limbs....

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