An Odyssey CD

Like many of Detroit's deep house and beatdown producers, Delano Smith has been an integral part of the city's musical landscape for nigh on 30 years - something amply demonstrated in the fascinating booklet accompanying this CD edition of his long-promised debut album. Musically, An Odyssey is typical of Smith's previous output, mixing smooth, hypnotic groovers and jazz-flecked deep housers with just the right amount of basement soul and melodic complexity. Given that the tracks - all previously unreleased - were recorded in the last two years, it's no surprise to find that the tracks sit together beautifully. Making a high quality deep house album is notoriously tricky, but Smith has achieved that feat - and with a style and grace that marks out house music's true masters.