^{first published on realbuzz.com [1]}

It's hard to believe that this is the same group that released Overcast [2] a decade ago. Back then they were a minimalist trio, with pared-down beats that, because of their easily discarded rhythms, put emphasis on the lyricism of the their lead MC, Slug. (Quickly thereafter, Spawn, their other MC, left the group.) On When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold [3], Atmosphere's [4] very design seems to have flipped.

Ant, their producer, has come a long, long way from his barebones snare drum tic-tic-boom beats that underscored that first full release. On every ensuing album he's become progressively more complex, and here we find some downright delightful, surprising rhythms. The tracks are varied, from the perhaps-slightly-over-produced "Can't Break," to the guitar-only "Guarantees." But Ant's at his best mid-track, where sometimes he will freshen up a song, for just a measure or two, with a brand new riff seemingly from out of nowhere.

Slug, meanwhile, has gotten much more simple. You won't find any of the lyrical ingenuity like the "Multiples Reprise" on Overcast, where he went through and danced with every letter of the alphabet. It's still rap, and so it still rhymes, but the lyrics are much more naked than anything Slug's put out before. As rappers age, the ones that stay in the game seem to place less emphasis on wordplay, and work harder to come up with narratives. Ghostface Killah and Jay-Z are just a couple artists that come to mind, who have undergone this type of metamorphosis. It's an attempt at candidness, at honesty, it seems. Not to say Slug's ever been gimmicky - or more so than any other rapper - but this is kind of like taking away the smoke and mirrors, and yet there's still a magical quality.

Their talents converge on "Yesterday," a meditation on Slug's deceased father. Musically, it's a deconstruction of M.O.P.'s "World Famous." Ant has hit those piano chords with a baseball bat, turning them into arpeggios that happily glide up and down the track. Probably it's one of the most up-tempo songs on the album; probably it's one of the most up-tempo songs Slug has ever rhymed over. Lyrically, it's a welcome entry to the book of father-son relationships, as Slug laments the rocky past he and his father shared, and yet wishes his dad was still around. "But who am I joking with/There's no way you and I will ever re-open it." It's a call for reparations, though the son knows it's too late. Not overly intricate or psychological, to be sure, but it's honest.

And again and again on this album, honesty plays well. Songs like "Me," "The Waitress," and "Like the Rest of Us," all have a genuine quality about them, because they feel lived, and therefore they feel true.

But I'm not sure his meditations on society are so convincing. There's a fair amount of bemoaning the unfortunate state of the union, with licks about blue-collar workers and single parents. It's ambitious, to be sure. It's almost as if Slug is taking a Norman Rockwell approach to his work, making it his mission to analyze his city. But songs like "Guarantees" and "Dreamer" just don't come as naturally to Atmosphere's aesthetic.

For the most part, though, Slug sticks to his trademarked brand of introspection. Even though they release something every one or two years, it seems like every album Atmosphere has put out lately is a comeback album. Maybe because of the sped-up cycles induced by the internet. But there always seems to be a lot of backlash against Atmosphere about two months after their CDs drop. When Life Gives You Lemons is simply another affirmation that Slug and Ant are still on top of their games, and even getting better.