Girl Unit has been a constant fixture of the Night Slugs crew over the label’s near-decade-long existence, but the London DJ/producer hasn’t had his own new release since 2012. Now, the label is closing the gap with his first full-length that’s slowly been in the works this whole time.

Song Feel is unmistakably a love letter to the American R&B and hip-hop canon, with cutting-edge beats that take it far beyond retro fetishism. The personalities of the featured vocalists are what give the LP its titular “song feel”. Previous collaborator Kelela opens the LP with WWYD, a tender jam echoing 80s West Coast electro and 90s G-funk, while Taliwoah soars like a radio diva atop the tropical dancehall of Stuck. Elsewhere, the four instrumentals range from the laid-back, Dilla-inspired Head to the skittering 130 BPM album closer Pure Gold, the most club-oriented track present. The record is a mixed bag stylistically – getting as raunchy as Lil Kim and as heartfelt as Mary J Blige – but Girl Unit’s meticulous production provides a unified quality.

Joey Hansom