DSU is a record that’s so full of pure, raw greatness that it’s hard to pin down the exact element that makes it so great. One track, Promise, boasts one of the most OTT slap bass lines we’ve ever heard and yet, if we were feeling particularly fragile, could probably bring us to our knees.

Like his contemporary on this side of the pond, Oliver Wilde, Pennsylvania native Alex G has eschewed promotion and careerism in favour of a bedroom-crafted, tinkered aesthetic that relies on songwriting and innovation rather than production budgets and studio magic. The only magic present on DSU is ecstatic passion and confidence. Songs like Harvey and Black Hair are would-be hits, tracks that are rife with the sort of imperfections and glitches that can only add to the gorgeously constructed melodies that flat out refuse to leave your head.

DSU is a vital indie record that’s indebted as much to Alex G’s own inventiveness as it is to the 90s slacker aesthetic it feeds off. Alex G’s music glows, it extends a hand, lends capacity to being in ‘the moment’. It’s uplifting and relatable. If you’re not feeling life today, maybe you could use DSU.

Billy Black