December 1 street date. The title of the previous Atmosphere album, "So Many Other Realities Exist Simultaneously", evokes the multiversal storytelling that has recently vaulted into the mainstream consciousness. Now with their latest effort, the irrepressible "Talk Talk" EP, Slug and Ant dart across space-time to grab hold of the timeline where they became titans of the electro-rap that was foundational to their youths. Evoking artists like Kraftwerk and Egyptian Lover, Atmosphere makes decades old visions of the future seem new once again. The genesis of the "Talk Talk" EP was in recording a track of the same name for "So Many Other Realities". The "Talk Talk" song exists alongside electro classics, at once vaguely alien and deeply human. Enamored with its outcome, Slug and Ant returned for a longer exploration of the sound, to mesmeric results. For all its well-documented roots in disco and R&B, rap's connection to the electronic music of the 1970s and 80s is a core part of its DNA. The "Talk Talk" EP is one of the clearest articulations of this truth to emerge in many years, a testament to the communal power of programmed sound.
May 17 street date. "Strictly Leakage" was a 2007 Christmas gift to fans in the form of a free download. The title was a nod to both leaking their own music as well as to the golden era hip-hop that inspired them. It sounded uniquely different from Atmosphere's recordings around this time. Ant was back digging into the funk and soul crates, producing sample driven tracks that sounded as if they were birthed alongside early hip-hop classics. Slug was rapping with a renewed passion, yet somehow sounded more casual and carefree, delivering endless wordplay with more technical rhyme patterns than their recent releases. Together, they created 13 exclusive songs that sounded as if they were having fun flexing different creative muscles without the pressure of any official album expectations - undoubtedly as rewarding an exercise for themselves as it was for the listeners. Soon after release, "Strictly Leakage" was briefly pressed on a limited run of vinyl and CD, but it wasn't long before they sold out, and fans were left chasing streams and digital files in order to hear it. Finally, the project returns to vinyl and CD so fans everywhere can own and appreciate this unique chapter in Atmosphere's story.
May 17 street date. "Strictly Leakage" was a 2007 Christmas gift to fans in the form of a free download. The title was a nod to both leaking their own music as well as to the golden era hip-hop that inspired them. It sounded uniquely different from Atmosphere's recordings around this time. Ant was back digging into the funk and soul crates, producing sample driven tracks that sounded as if they were birthed alongside early hip-hop classics. Slug was rapping with a renewed passion, yet somehow sounded more casual and carefree, delivering endless wordplay with more technical rhyme patterns than their recent releases. Together, they created 13 exclusive songs that sounded as if they were having fun flexing different creative muscles without the pressure of any official album expectations - undoubtedly as rewarding an exercise for themselves as it was for the listeners. Soon after release, "Strictly Leakage" was briefly pressed on a limited run of vinyl and CD, but it wasn't long before they sold out, and fans were left chasing streams and digital files in order to hear it. Finally, the project returns to vinyl and CD so fans everywhere can own and appreciate this unique chapter in Atmosphere's story.