“It’s an authentic expression of my life and who I am,” says the DJ/producer of a third album which perfects his balance between euphoria and introspection. “I’ve always romanticized the past, and this record leans into that inclination towards melancholy and nostalgia,” DJ and producer Armand Jakobsson, aka DJ Seinfeld, tells Apple Music. “It’s music written for its own sake—an authentic expression of my life and who I am.” Since the release of his 2017 debut album Time Spent Away from U, Jakobsson has made his signature a deeply emotive take on the dance-floor-thumping sounds of house and ’90s rave music. Collaborating with the likes of Australian dance-pop duo Confidence Man and taking on residencies everywhere from Ibiza’s DC10 to Chicago’s smartbar, Jakobsson has honed a production style that deftly treads the line between collective euphoria and individual introspection. On his third album, If This Is It, that bittersweet balance finds its purest expression, from the ambient melodics of “U Can’t Come Home” to the hyperpop freneticism of “The Right,” the spoken-word soul-searching of the title track, and the dark electronics of “In the Morning.” “The record was written over the course of four years and it charts my journey to acceptance of every part of myself,” Jakobsson says. Read on for his in-depth thoughts on the album, track by track. “U Can’t Come Home” (feat. TS Graye) “Everything that happens throughout the album features in this opening song through different musical motifs. It sets the tone nicely for what is to come and I wanted to keep the lyrics ambiguous, as the title could be taken as autobiographical or being about a relationship. It’s a mystery to start the album on, and it has an ambience to ease people in.” “Quakin’” “I love being outside in nature, and I realized during the writing process for the album that it was missing a sense of natural ambience. I ended up writing this song really quickly and was inspired by early Four Tet productions, as well as wind chimes and nature sounds. It also has lots of vocal chops added in, since I always use vocals as a creative musical component to add texture.” “The Right” (with Confidence Man) “I collaborated with Confidence Man before on the [2023] track ‘Now U Do,’ and that was so much fun, I knew I wanted to work with them again. We met up in Berlin and got some rough ideas together in just an hour that then developed into this track. It feels in a similar vein to ‘Now U Do’ but also has vintage qualities that link it to this album. I wanted there to be moments of silliness on the record and for it to be all over the place sonically, so this is the most upbeat and energetic track on there.” “If This Is It” (feat. Dan Whitlam) “Both my previous albums have spoken-word moments on them, and I wanted to work with the great poet Dan Whitlam for this. I had already written the Lake Erie version of this track, which closes the album, and came up with this iteration later in the process. I sent some ideas over to Dan and we crafted the final tune, which is about fostering a sense of acceptance. I want people to ultimately find their own meaning from his lyrics.” “Turning the Page” “It was important to also have tracks aimed towards a club setting and the live show on the record, and this is one of the best examples of that vibe. I had written the demo version of this quite a while back and ended up digging it out to rework for the album. I’ve since played it live a few times and it’s always received very well.” “Of Joy” (feat. ARY) “Once my last album, Mirrors [2021], was finished, I felt this immense surge of creativity and this was the first track I wrote in that period. It immediately felt like the start of a new album, even though it would take another four years to complete! I wrote a demo, sent it to [Norwegian electropop artist] ARY and she sent back the take in two days. It then sat in my hard drive until I rediscovered it a few years later and finished it for the record.” “The Wave” (feat. just lil) “I wrote the instrumental for ‘The Wave’ a while back and always liked the hook but I couldn’t find the right sample for it. I’m a massive fan of [London DJ/producer/vocalist] just lil, so I eventually sent it to her and she got it straightaway. I like to give vocalists space to do what they want, and we usually end up complimenting each other’s strengths. It came out better than I could have imagined.” “In the Morning” (feat. Moyka) “‘In the Morning’ came to me shortly after I wrote ‘Of Joy,’ during that very creative period. I was into Norwegian electronic music and people like Björk and Little Dragon at the time—all these artists who incorporate a dark, ominous tone to their romanticism. I lucked out with [Norwegian singer-songwriter] Moyka because she nailed that mysterious energy.” “Everything U” “Sometimes when I’m writing, I have no particular idea of what a track should be and I just see what comes up. ‘Everything U’ is a great example of that process, since it all happened in two hours after I had a melody stuck in my head and let myself explore from there. It perfectly fits the vibe of the album being between a happy and sad mood.” “Something That I’ve Never Known” (with SG Lewis) “I worked with SG Lewis a few years ago on a track called ‘Simple Times,’ and this tune comes from that same session. I love working with him as we’re good friends, so it’s always fun to go to the studio together and see what comes out. We have a shared love of Italo disco, so this one pays tribute to that era with its lo-fi elements.” “Our Mother’s Walk” “I wanted to write a song for my mother as something to close the album on, and she loved this guitar loop that I then built into ‘Our Mother’s Walk.’ There have been a few mixes of the track and she really liked an earlier version, but I had to trust my musical instincts in the end and go with the mix that you hear now. It’s a nice gesture to bring listeners towards the close of the record.” “If This Is It (Lake Erie Mix)” “I was on a boys’ trip to the US a few years back and when we drove by Lake Erie, I took a picture of it on my phone and it was so beautiful, it looked like a Hiroshi Nagai painting. I was in this very happy, zen mood and wrote these chords to go along with that feeling. It felt like the perfect note to end the album on.”