Introducing… Kent Odessa

Here at Bearded we aim to shed light on acts who don't necessarily have giant labels or muscley budgets waving banners behind them. This Introducing series will focus on artists who we think are great, regardless of how much hype surrounds them or where their origin story lays.

Bio
Name: Kent Odessa
Location: Detroit, USA
Genre: Pop/Dance/Experimental
Similar Artists: MGMT, Tom Vek
Contact: Facebook, Twitter
Events: New EP Physical Genius due out this June.

Michigan's Kent Odessa, a purveyor of indie-R&B/post-motown pop extravagance, wields gooey nectar for those with a passion for Michael Jackson-y '80s disco and synthpop with a retro feel. Hailing from Detroit's suburbs, and learning various instruments from a very early age, Odessa's musical career began as Peephole, with several EPs released under the moniker. A swift costume/name change, and Odessa dropped Silverdome, his debut full-length, at the butt-end of 2011 to rave reviews.



After a brief sojourn away from the limelight, Odessa's return is upon us, with a new track due to drop any day now, and an EP – Physical Genius – due at some point this summer. If his newest material is anything to go by, we should be expecting a kind of thwomping, sexy-cool electropop with future-soul vibes and Top 40 panache. For example, 'Just A Phase', featuring Celeste Cruz (of none other than Daphne & Celeste fame), is blinding, hook-riddled chart-fodder that has potential to light up dancefloors from Miami to Marrakesh.

If you're partial to a dollop of rump-shakin', shimmytastic club bait, then there's every chance that you'll revel in the nostalgic output that seems to come oh-so-naturally to Kent Odessa. We're on the cusp of phase two in his recorded career, and all the signs so far point to an immensely bright future.