Pisces Pie (LP) - Odelet (Jazz/R&B) This week’s LP is “Pisces Pie” by Odelet—a collection of jazzy mid tempos that feels like an intimate concert. With a distinctive sound and style, ODELET’s soulful stylings show a woman in her element—a mature vocalist who knows what she’s doing. Before we break into the lush album, we start with a little about our artist.

Odelet is a singer, songwriter, producer and visual artist born in Detroit, Michigan, though she currently resides on the west coast. She writes and performs all of her own material, impressively including the instrumentals, making herself quite the jack of all trades and a one woman band. Among her inspirations, she sites old school hip hop, soul, R&B, pop and beyond. It shocks us to learn that this entire album was produced on a drum machine and keyboard—we thought it was a live band! This is an incredibly impressive musician and creator working at the highest level. Further impressing us, Odelet has recently begun making an experimental form of music visuals that have been screened in more than fifty film festivals internationally, winning numerous awards.

Odelet keeps things midtempo on her project, with a consistent soundscape of a jazz club instrumental backing. The album evokes the image of a hazy underground club or speakeasy at dusk, with an intimate audience enjoying drinks and allowing themselves to melt into the smooth grooves that Odelet brings. The tracks feel like duets between our vocalist and the bass, with a soft, deep kick and other instrumentation serving as fill to let Odelet shine in the forefront. Though we feel the tracks are jazz at the core, there is an element of R&B to these as well, which helps bring more of a structure to the songs that you might not find in a purely jazz record.

The vocals are a husky resonant alto, smokey and rich. There’s a Toni Braxton feeling here, without the pop sensibility, and Odelet’s unique and distinctive timbre melts like butter throughout her tracks, smooth as honey. Her performance is also heartfelt, the emotion in her voice clear, as it rumbles like a stormcloud from her chest. It brings a sense of foreboding to the tracks—weighty with sincerity and maturity.

Among our favorites is “Supreme”—our most R&B of the tracks. A sizzling high hat brings tension to the song as Odelet’s silky vocals remind us of not only Toni but also NAO. A plucky guitar brings a middle eastern flare to the track, making it stand out from the others.

“Paired” also brings the R&B vibes with Odelet stepping up the vocal backings which elevate the track. It has a great pace and movement, not afraid to pull back the instrumental to relish in the vocals. It also has the strongest melody line of the album. A similar vibe is felt on “Mesh”, where the backing harmonies remind us a lot of fellow R&B songstress Tweet—specifically on her “Southern Hummingbird” album.

So we recommend you turn off the lights, pour a glass of wine, and slip into Odelet’s world.