Atmosphere- The Family Sign

The Family Sign takes a step away from the catchy hooks of 2008's When Life Gives You Lemons Paint That Shit Gold and focuses more on Slug's lyrical talent. The Family Sign is a very dark and intimate album with few rays of light. From songs dealing with abuse to songs dealing with drug addiction the listener hardly ever gets a break to breathe. But with that being said I think that has always been a trait of Atmosphere. The duo has never been known for heart lifting songs but I think it’s kind of amazing how raw and unafraid they are. They are not strangers to discuss topics that a lot of other musicians kind of just gloss over or don’t touch at all. The Family Sign is a hard listen but it is well put together. I miss hearing some of the more complicated and cool beats that Ant is known for but the stripped away sound does work well for the mood this album is portraying. The Family Sign took a few listens for me to really fully absorb how powerful and strong it is but like I said I think it is a very hard listen. If you don’t mind kind of drifting into the darker parts of your brain and thinking about painful topics then give this album a shot, but if you are looking for something uplifting or a light listen I would skip this album

Final Review- 80