Delano Smith – Twilight

I am not quite the biggest deep house fan out there, and I don' t reckon that is something that will be maring my musical CV in the long run, but here goes nothing: Delano Smith's sophomore album Twilight is, to cut to the chase, like a large scale improvement when compared to An Odyssey. This remark is of course based strictly & solely on what my ear lobes had to absorb.
First and foremost, Delano wisely decided to shun to the greatest cliche of them all when speaking about deep house, or its far too many imitators and bleak replicas of this otherwise fine musical direction. What might that be you wonder? The vocals, yes the deep ones. The deep, the muffled, the uplifiting vocal bits that permeated approximtely two thirds of that album. Sure a euphoric vocal proclamation will get the crowd shifting gears up, but when you have the phrase "This is What I do" repeated a hundred times in a track called "What I Do", then for example "We survive together" in "Survival" underpinned by rather mournful female whispers and generic melancholic pads, moving on to the overused catchphrase "I feel this" used way beyond its welcome in a track called - surprise - "Feel This" or "I wonder" on repeat used in a track creatively named "Wonder". You know you're in trouble.

Thankfully, to my personal satisfaction at least, this triple pack sounds less like an (ittedly) extremely well made collection eager to sound like a dope deep house album. To clear out any potential confusion: the previous one was a good offering. A mighty return to a spot under the limelight. Extremely well made, but frequently brought down by elements and ingredients you'd apply just because you assume a tune on the deeper verge of things ought to be laced with them.
However, if I was to present Delano Smith as a peerless pioneer, my money would be placed on Twilight any day of the week.

His sound reaches out further, and greatly profits by incorporating elements of dub, ambient and true to the roots Detroit techno. Certain tracks take it a step further and experiment with off beat percussive patterns, which gives the whole deep aesthetic an extra layer of mysticism. Across three pieces of black wax, all of the pieces are expertly crafted dance floor shakers, landing somewhere between Basic Channel and Planet E, or perhaps 430 West. The most impressive thing (one of them actually) is that none of the tunes sacrifiy humbleness or integrity in order to please late night podiums enveloped in thick fog.
In my opinion, we are sorely lacking moving, night time jams that are authentic in their artisitc execuion, yet still retaining an irresistible punch for the clubs. This is one of those all too rare occasions. Where melody does not have to overpower the rhythm sectio just so that the record does not stick with a "tool" tag or where the bass line has to suffocate just about anything so it can sound epic in a large, black room. I mean you could go from a 1994 Berlin tune to a 2015 Detroit production and use these gems as transit terminals.

All of that taken into consideration, it's probably obvious where my heart is. It does not automatically mean yours will be as well, but missing out on this release just because you generally don't fancy house would be a huge mistake. Take this as a superb deep house meal consumed with nutritional supplements to increase the vitamin level. Personally I am under this album's spell. I find myself completely hypnotized by the dubby chords, the sincere melodic sweeps, the beefy bass segments and the perfectly pitched beats, that ought to subdue summer time terraces and sweaty basement venues alike.
One other thing: do not stop here. Delano Smith is on an absolute roll, and if you like what is on the menu here, check out the awesome From Silence double pack released on Sushitech last year, or the super deep remix he did for Steve O'Sullivan on the Reconstructed release.This man boasts a genuine blend of autochtone depth that simultaneously begs to be played out to the hungry masses. Gotta love that!

Nice LP, some great DJ tools.

This was worth the wait, great album from detroit's delano smith. Will set fire on the dance floors all over.