This came out in 2001 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
The cat in the hat has come back once again.
But Jamiroquai pilot Jay Kay only touches down long enough to open the door to his interplanetary mothership and invite you to hustle on in for a spin around his groovy universe. Flying through the dry-ice fog and glitter-ball starlight of Studio 54, Kay sets a course marked by bootylicious four-on-the-floor backbeats, happening handclaps, Walter Rossi-style symphonics, chicken-scratch Theme From Shaft-like guitars — and, of course, his Stevie Wonder soundalike vocals. Occasionally he strays into more exotic realms — Twenty Zero One jitters and skitters to a Daft Punky electro-buzz, while Stop Don’t Panic cooks to a rocky R&B-fuelled flame — but for most of Funk Odyssey Kay remains Jamiroquai’s eternal starchild.
