SEARCHING FOR (AND FINDING) A HIGHER POWER

By CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY

The singer Seal has always seemed to draw on his own private power source, so it should come as no surprise that his recent performance on MTV's acoustic showcase, Unplugged, was suffused with energy despite the de rigueur absence of electric guitars (the segment begins airing this week). But what is surprising is just how gracefully Seal took to the format. Tuneful, enigmatically romantic songs such as Kiss from a Rose blossomed under the scrutiny that a lower-volume set brings, and Seal's voice, charismatic and craggy, revealed new depths in the low-key format, especially on his climactic rendition of Don't Cry.

Seal's show was not only a high point in his career and for Unplugged, it was also a noteworthy moment for today's pop. The sound of folk is making a comeback, from the resurgent Tracy Chapman's unexpected Top 10 CD, New Beginning, to the folk-punk punch of Ani DiFranco. In his Unplugged set, the musically eclectic Seal (according to him, his favorite albums right now include Stereolab's involving art-pop CD, Emperor Tomato Ketchup; D*Note's politically aware dance album, Criminal Justice; and Henryk Gorecki's avant-garde classical CD, Symphony No. 3) managed to draw from disparate strains of pop and weave them into a single folksy tapestry, performing a bluesy cover of Jimi Hendrix's Stone Free as well as a folk- soul rendering of his own hit Prayer for the Dying.

The folk-pop sound isn't a watering down of rock but a maturation of the form, connecting pop to its past and giving it a future among adults. Seal, born in London to Nigerian parents, admits that he began singing so his "distant" father would notice him. With his Unplugged show, Seal should win the ear of many more adults. --C.J.F.