Over the years, Rhymesayers has kept to the older model of promoting releases, with well planned out schedules that include presales, singles, videos, and tour announcements. However, as 2019 comes to a close, it appears that they are experimenting with new models, as Brother Ali dropped an album produced by Evidence with very little warning. This continued into the end of the year when Atmosphere dropped a new album out of nowhere, Whenever.

While the release of Whenever might have been a little bit of a surprise, the content within is anything but. That’s because over the course of the last twenty years, Atmosphere have been incredibly consistent. They’ve grown up and evolved over the years, but their approach hasn’t varied all that much. Slug isn’t the wild and reckless youth that he once was, but his approach to storytelling still relies on empathy and clear descriptions that you can piece together over the course of the song. Ant might have grown a little subtler over the years with his production, but there are still moments across the album where he turns the energy up just a little or brings in some unexpected sonic elements to keep you on your toes. And while consistency has been the name of the game over the course of the last decade, that doesn’t mean that each album has its standout moments. “Postal Lady” is a great slice of life narrative from a family man, demonstrating that in the right hands even a song about getting the mail can be interesting. “Dearly Beloved,” featuring Muja Messiah and Musab is nice tribute to the legacy of Prince (I don’t know when we’ll ever see one city owe so much to one artist again the way that Minneapolis gives it up for Prince). “Romance” brings in some fuzz and big drums that recalls their work on God Loves Ugly or Seven’s Travels, which works well with Slug’s lyricism, as he relates an encounter with an intriguing woman, but now with the perspective of an older family man.

Whenever is a testament to a duo in Atmosphere who have worked really hard to keep reinventing themselves in all sorts of minor ways to keep themselves interested in still making music, and to still sound relevant to their fans. This isn’t an album about drastic change, it’s an album about just staying interested in day to day life – sometimes major things happen, and sometimes they don’t, but they are all worth writing songs about if you care enough and put the work in. That’s exactly what Atmosphere has done with Whenever.