You Want

“I don’t care what you got, you want the best!” cries a voice at the outset of Omar S’s *You Want* (and in the introduction of almost every song that follows). The implication is clear: Why settle for average house music when you could be listening to Omar S? That kind of swagger has marked the Detroit producer’s work since the beginning; his cantankerous pride is a fundamental part of his persona. (His 2016 album is even titled *The Best!*) But on 2020’s *You Want*, his first full-length in four years, he once again proves that he’s earned his bragging rights. Across 13 songs and one bonus instrumental, Omar S delves deep into the kind of stripped-down yet sentimental deep house that he’s famous for. The production is decidedly no-frills, featuring unadorned drum machines swathed in drowsy synths and samples of vintage R&B, yet the music is uncommonly expressive. That’s not only true of vocal house jams like “Second Life” and “Hear Me Out,” where the Detroit singer John FM channels classic club belters of the \'80s; the soul is just as deep on cuts like “Mandela Gold,” a toe-scuffing drum track, and “Ambiance,” whose wriggly bassline tips its feathered cap to P-Funk. He even finds the time to take a detour into what’s essentially trance music on the linear “1993.” Not many contemporary dance producers have that kind of range, but then, Omar S himself told us as much with the title of a 2011 album: *It Can Be Done but Only I Can Do It*.