British singer Seal is on a cross country promo tour for his new album of 70s Soul classics, Soul 2, which dropped today in the U.S. The album was originally released in November 2011 in Europe.

On Sunday, Seal, 48, and his supermodel wife, Heidi Klum, 38, announced their separation after 7 years of marriage and 4 kids together. Coincidence or publicity stunt for his new album?

Yesterday, Seal was a guest on the ‘Tavis Smiley Show’ on PBS (he also stopped by the Ellen Show). On both shows, Seal talked about his new album, but the questions inevitably turned to the split between he and his wife.

Seal told Tavis that the separation did not make recording his album difficult. “just because you decide to separate… you don’t stop loving each other. You don’t… stop being friends,” said Seal. He added: “What one has to do is remain civil to retain one’s dignity… It’s unfortunately a chapter of life.”

Watch the interview after the break.