Alex Da Kid, the UK-born, LA-based producer with credits ranging from Rihanna to Imagine Dragons, is not exactly a kid anymore. So he’s been moved to explore new endeavors: launching a fashion line called 000 Channel Black under the name _by.ALEXANDER, opening a store, and writing a book—but also, of course, continuing to make music. This album of sultry, jazz-influenced R&B provides a kind of aural analogue to the clothing brand, allowing Alex to weave together the strands of his experience. With piano, big-toned upright bass, and sleek drums at the center, he blends an acoustic jazz aesthetic with the dance club sensibility of “BLOOM IN PARIS” and “THE CHEF & THE DJ,” recruiting vocalists 070 Shake (“TRUMPETS”), Tanerélle (“STALLING”), and others on the slow and yearning numbers. The Latin tinge of “le merveilleux résumé,” the dollops of Hammond organ and Texas-style tenor sax on “à l’extérieur,” and the assertive swing of “the absence” make for an engaging listen. Alex bares a bit of his soul in sampled interview snippets on the closing “THE MONSTER & THE MUSE.”