Atmosphere have long since carved out a space somewhere between underground and mainstream Hip-Hop. That moment likely came in 2008, when When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold dropped. They’re like the kind of party guests who show up, say hello, then quickly disappear—or linger just inside the doorway, hand over a gift, and let their eyes wander curiously through the foyer before turning around. This standing-on-the-threshold energy runs through their new album, Jestures.
This time, the duo from Minneapolis—Slug and Ant—have taken on the alphabet. Each letter gets its own track. The opener is called »Asshole«, the closer »Zorro«. Even the featured guests follow the alphabetical sequence, like Kurious showing up on »Kilowatts«. It’s a simple idea, one that creates structure and holds the album together. The lyrics, however, are anything but simple. They touch on family, friendship, relationships, aging—there’s a lot going on.
Slug delivers his reflections without preachiness or sentimental overkill. He can add just enough pressure to his voice to make it sting, like on »Daley«:
»But what do I know / I’m just another functional psycho /
Codependent oversensitive control freak / Panic attack while I’m baggin’ up my groceries.«
Ant is just as versatile. His production shifts from atmospheric (»Effortless«) to tropical (»Really«) to dreamy (»Velour«). The melodies are catchy—sometimes almost too catchy, brushing up against the edge of pop mainstream—though only briefly.
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Jestures
