SEAL REVEALS SOULFUL POP STAR HAS SOME SURPRISES IN STORE WITH REISSUES, CURRENT TOUR.

Byline: Fred Shuster Music Writer

As every celeb watcher knows, pop singer Seal and German supermodel Heidi Klum were hitched in Mexico two weeks ago. The two began dating last year, and Klum soon will give birth to the couple's child.

That kiss from a rose is the one topic Seal doesn't really want to talk about. But the 42-year-old multi-Grammy winner is too much of a sweet guy to leave his primary object of desire out of the conversation. He mentions Heidi, but she's simply ``my wife.''

Born Sealhenry Samuel in London to Nigerian/Brazilian parents, the singer-songwriter emerged from the U.K.'s house music scene in the early '90s to become one of the biggest soul vocalists of the decade. His evocative brand of pop, dance, r&b and rock first bore fruit with the 1991 international smash ``Crazy.''

Three million copies of his eponymous debut album later, Seal's ``Prayer for the Dying'' followed ``Crazy'' onto the world's pop lists. When ``Kiss From a Rose'' bloomed on the ``Batman Forever'' soundtrack, Seal suddenly had a No. 1 single. Tours quickly sold out and the later discs, ``Human Being'' and ``Seal IV,'' were assured success. Last year, the career-spanning ``Best: 1991-2004'' was issued, while June 7 sees the release of his first two albums in DVD-A format, with the addition of a variety of remixes. Also slated for release that day is the eagerly awaited CD/DVD ``Live in Paris,'' from a sold-out date last summer at the Olympia Bruno Coquatrix.

We caught Seal last week as he was preparing for dates tonight at the Fred Kavli Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza and Saturday at Cerritos Center (soulful singer Chris Pierce opens both shows). Also on the itinerary is a show Oct. 2 at the Greek Theatre.

Q: What can we expect from tonight's show? Have you added any new tunes to the set?

A: It's funny because we've just added this song by (contemporary new wavers) the Killers, ``Everything Will Be Alright.'' My wife and I were in this store in London and they were playing it there, and I didn't notice but I was singing the chorus when we came out. And my wife said, ``What is that?'' And it was something I'd just heard a moment ago. We also do Neil Young's ``Don't Let It Bring You Down'' (from ``After the Gold Rush'') and David Bowie's ``Let Me Sleep Beside You'' (a late-'60s obscurity).

Q: Heard anything exciting lately?

A: Bloc Party (an edgy post-punk outfit). They have this uncanny way of taking the influences everyone else has and refashioning them in a very interesting way. The only ones similar are the Icelandic bands like Sigur Ros who use a lot of influences and make something entirely unique. There's so much conviction and belief in what they're doing that you believe it.

Q: I guess the world is about to feel the onslaught of Oasis again (a new album and world tour is imminent).

A: The thing I can't swallow about them is how incredibly plagiaristic they are, by their own admission. They proudly proclaim themselves copyists, and while some of their songs might be beautifully crafted, as a musician, there's an unwritten understanding that we all draw from the same influences. It's OK to borrow, but to steal is unacceptable.

Q: Where do melodies like ``Crazy'' and ``Kiss From a Rose'' come from? For a listener, they get under your skin the first time you hear them.

A: Even my wife asks me where it comes from. I have no idea. Is it some kind of divine intervention, or something you pick out from the harmonics of the chord you're playing? I don't really know, but I suspect that if you're musically inclined, you become a songwriter. You develop a musical sense that extends to how you see life in general, how you see the world. When you listen to a conversation, as a musician, you hear cadence and rhythm and melody. But the songs never come when I expect. The really good ones are seamless and have a kind of natural superiority. To me, good music has to make an emotional connection, otherwise it's worthless. It can be any genre, but it has to make me believe in what I'm hearing.

Q: Genuine heart and emotion are unmistakable.

A: When you hear the opposite, you ask yourself, ``Why am I listening to this?'' You don't have to have the voice of Marvin Gaye or the musical ability of Jimi Hendrix, but I just want to feel something, I want to believe you. And I'm not one of those people who believe technology kills the spirit of music, either. I love programmed technology - but it's easily abused. Once that technology governs the music, that's when there's a problem. The technology is there to capture the emotion, and when the reverse happens, that's when it becomes destructive.

Fred Shuster, [phone]

fred.shuster(at)dailynews.com

SEAL

Where: Fred Kavli Theatre at Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks.

When: 8 tonight (also Saturday at Cerritos Center).

Tickets: $40 to $70. [phone]; ticketmaster.com.

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