Dearborn Music

For over 20 years, Atmosphere have pursued the underbelly of what it means to be human with a rabid curiosity. Ant�s dusky production has provided the pulse for Slug�s evolving and matter-of-fact pen. As Slug transitioned from throwing-up-in-the-backseat-raps to holding-hands-when-you-cross-the-street-raps, Ant has grown to be a master of crate digging and unearthing the humanity of a drum loop. Thriving at the intersection of guttural and self-effacing, Atmosphere will go down as some of America�s best archivists. On Whenever, the duo continue to move in lockstep. Within the minutiae lie clues they�re still struggling with mortality and the need to protect emotional energy, as on previous releases, but there�s a quiet romanticism now, with Slug sounding�reluctantly�in love with life. And no other producer can pull truths out of a rapper like Ant fishes the blues out of Slug. Be it the twinkle of �Bde Maka Ska� leading into twanging guitars, or the anxious skitter of �Lovely,� Slug finds obvious comfort in working with Ant. �Postal Lady� recounts the simplicity of Slug�s life over warm and enveloping production, while �Romance� recalls God Loves Ugly with its undulating glitches, as if we crawled through Ant�s drum machine. It�s clear the pair�s harmony is reaching new peaks. These aren�t dad-raps, these aren�t anti-establishment-raps, and these aren�t chasing-old-fire-raps. Even at its darkest (�You�re Gonna Go�) Whenever houses blessed-to-be-alive-raps. The album breathes in the way only Slug and Ant could summon a collective breath. On Whenever, the duo inhale panic and exhale greatness.