As the sprawling cast list makes clear, this is very much a work for theatre. It has to be seen as well as heard. So it's hard to escape the feeling that the audio recording, robbed of the visual components, above all the action implicit in the many tracks, is only a partial representation of the complete concept that Kinch has devised. Because the central story is so multi-layered – the trials and tribulations of the eponymous rapper in a Babylonian music industry where the seven deadly sins lie in wait among a corporate snake pit – it is almost too grandiose to fit into the space provided and there are times when the sequence of 41 tracks, set over two discs, simply needs greater relief. This could have come by way of just a few more instrumentals in between the monsoon of rapped verses. Having said that, Mike Smith is nonetheless a bold and bracing work for the sharpness of its execution and wide idiomatic range. Kinch's dual interest in hip hop and jazz has been somewhat overstated and the equally interesting facet of his artistic personality is the gospel-funk sensibility that defines both his playing and composing, which really peaks on an instrumental such as ‘The Healing’. Mike Smith is a dense, top-heavy creation, where the maelstrom of thoughtful lyric and changing sonic landscapes could do with additional breathing space, and this is hopefully what the theatre production later this year will provide. Kinch's challenge to himself and us is not to be taken lightly.