Atmosphere – “The Day Before Halloween” (Album Review)

Atmosphere is an highly regarded duo from Minneapolis, Minnesota consisting of producer Ant & emcee Slug. They’ve released a handful of classics through their label Rhymesayers Entertainment including Lucy Ford, You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having, Sad Clown Bad Dub 9 & my personal favorite: God Loves Ugly. But for the past couple years now, Slug & Ant been grinding like crazy by dropping Mi Vida Local in 2018 & then Whenever last winter. They just put out Felt 4 U with MURS over the summer & now a couple months later, Atmosphere is back with their 11th full-length album.

The album starts off with “Where the Road Forks”, where Slug talks about how he knows he doesn’t articulate himself correctly over a synthesizer heavy instrumental. The next song “Space is Safe” addresses someone who thinks he’s suffering from depression over a demented beat while the track “She Loves My Not” talks about a woman who only misses him when she’s drunk over a frightening instrumental. “The New People” talks about someone who doesn’t give him a reason to live over an portentous beat while “The Future is Disgusting” talks about romance over an 80s-style instrumental.

The song “DoubleTown” discusses how everybody knows somebody, but nobody knows anybody over a grim beat while the track “Stardust” tells everyone to stop biting his rap style over a monstrous instrumental. The song “Blotter Acid Reflux Syndrome” talks about having trouble on his mind over a futuristic beat while the penultimate track “Party Crashers” speaks for itself over a synth-funk instrumental. The album finishes off with “Sleep Apnea”, where Slug talks about how he wouldn’t commit to this chick if he could over an eerie beat.

This is almost as enjoyable as Felt 4 U in my personal opinion. Ant’s production is very synth-heavy except with a darker edge to it & Slug’s paints some very dope imagery from start to finish. Can’t wait to hear where they take things going forward.

Score: 7/10