Over razor-sharp drums and distorted synths, The Day Before Halloween explores the life of a visual artist living in an antiquated surveillance state. Cutting loose and eschewing their established norms, Slug and Ant have delivered the anti-pop answer to the content and compositions of previous albums. Much like everything else in 2020 though, Atmosphere's new album, The Day Before Halloween, is something of a detour from the anticipated path. At it's essence, Atmosphere has been a musical shepherd, and with each new album comes a new journey as they guide generations of listeners through this thing called life. Ant has skillfully molded the soundtracks with inspiration from soul, funk, rock, reggae, and the wizardry of hip-hop's pioneering producers, creating his own trademark sounds while providing the pulse for songs about life, love, stress and setbacks. Slug has proven masterful at storytelling and writing compelling narratives, leaving a trail of his own influence while paying homage to the rappers and songwriters that shaped him. In that time, the venerated duo have built a legacy out of bringing honesty, humility and vulnerability to the forefront of their music, continually challenging themselves to evolve without straying too far from their roots. The duo together remain in sync and fans of Atmosphere will appreciate the work and growth on The Day Before Halloween.For over two decades, Atmosphere has maintained a course of rigorous output, releasing over two dozen studio albums, EP's and collaborative side projects in as many years. It’s haunting sonically, but it is still similar to the sound on previous Atmosphere albums. It allows Slug to be uncomfortable and talk about mental illness where he knows people can relate. It takes the approach of being unsure or uneasy in a safe setting. Overall, The Day Before Halloween isn’t this creepy album where people will be scared to listen. It also ties into the Halloween theme because of the creepiness of receiving the random clips. It’s a different approach to creating a video which is what makes it interesting and gives the album the extra attention it deserves. When the clips get viewed, a song from the album is played against different clips from the internet. The viewer runs a grocery store and is receiving video clips who are believed to be meant for someone else. The visuals are reminiscent of a ’90s video game in a first-person point of view.
Atmosphere the day before halloween movie#
With the album comes a movie which is directed by Jason Goldwatch. What really helps add to the theme of unsettling and abnormal that Halloween gives people is the incorporation of a movie. Singing “If I could commit to you I won’t,” Slug admits that this person is someone he just can’t find himself establishing anything with. For the final track, “Sleep Apnea,” production goes back to the eerie sounding beat. The lyrics go into a rant almost that Slug is giving to the bartender at this party he found himself crashing. The track with the most diverse sound would be “Party Crashers.” Instead of these dark sounds, it is a lot more upbeat, funky with alternative rock energy. Giving a very faint telephone sounding filter on the vocals, Slug allows himself to speak on all the things he has been thinking about and how it has been a lot for him. However, out of all the tracks, the hip-hop elements are a lot more prominent. The production for this track still maintains the synth. They bring back a more traditional structure to a song on “Blotter Acid Reflux Syndrome” giving listeners an intro and two verses whereas the few previous songs were one verse. The main focus of this track is the fact that people know who people are more than likely by name and face, but not who they genuinely are. “DoubleTown” gives the listener an ominous synthesizer and drum-focused beat that ends abruptly and finishes the song with a soft and slower synth. With an older video game style instrumental, “The Future Is Disgusting” describes a carefree relationship where those involved do not care what the world has to say about them and what they do. Slug turns the attention to himself on “The New People.” He talks about someone who is not giving him a reason to live over a somber synth and drum pattern. “Space Is Safe” follows after with a heavier and distorted sound while the lyrics describe someone addressing someone else who is suffering from depression. Here, Slug speaks on the lack of ability he has when trying to explain himself. The opening track, “Where The Road Forks,” is the longest song off the project.
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