American hip hop duo Atmosphere have dropped a new video, “Whenever,” featuring Gifted Gab, Murs and Haphduzn. “Whenever” is the title single off of Atmosphere’s 12-track eight studio album, released in December 2019.

The general tone of the video is lonely. Directed by Tomas Aksamit, everything feels isolated and apocalyptic. Ant takes a seat by himself in an empty movie theater, before transitioning to Slug in a hazmat suit analyzing the world around him with no one in sight. Gifted Gab appears in then emerges from a painting before emerging from the back of a moving truck in the middle of nowhere. Murs relives and rewrites an iteration of the JFK assassination, riding in the back of a convertible alone with no driver, sporadically seen through the scope of a sniper rifle. Finally, Haphduzn warms himself alone by a barrel fire as the world literally blows up and burns around him.

In general, the tones of each artist contrast. However, in their shared loneliness, with a constant back beat providing a canvas on which all to proverbially paint, there’s a shared loneliness that melds the unique styles together for a compelling track and video.

Atmosphere has been busy recently postponing 2020’s iteration of their Soundset Music Festival to 2021 in light of the coronavirus. The 2021 event will serve as a backdrop for the duo’s 25th anniversary.

Photo Credit: Sharon Alagna