Atavista Album Thoughts
Ok so because Iām bored and need something to do to stop my endless YouTube scroll, Iām gonna go back and reflect on some older albums that I really like. Not new albums because Iām too tired and fatigue to think about new music right now (My backlog of albums is GIANT)
So first that I thought would be interesting is Atavista by Childish Gambino. Now this is a weird case because this album has been released twice, first in 2020 where it was named 3.15.20, the date it was released, and then in 2024.
Now, what is the difference between them and are they significant? I would say so. First thing that anyone would notice is that every track was now actually named. You see, for 3.15.20, only two tracks had names, which was Algorithm and Time. Every other trackās name was just the time stamp that the song started on. For example, what is now Psilocybae was originally 12.38 and Little Foot Big Foot was 35.31. Now this is an overall good thing as it makes talking about the songs WAY easier, but it also makes the album lose some of the meaning I took from it back in 2020.
Obviously when the album came out, we were in the depths of lockdown during the Covid Pandemic. Now 3.15.20 was not an advertised release by Gambino, it was a surprise drop. To me, the album name and the time stamps as song names made the album feel more like one collective package. It was an album made it that time, meant to be consumed all at once, and reflected that time when it was made. Along with the blank white album cover gave it a not unfinished feel, but unpolished, like Gambino felt like it had to be released at that point, warts and all, forget about the small details. Now with an actual name and song titles it loses that ethereal feel, but also becomes more polished and easier to digest at any point.
Second big change between this albums releases is the fact that two new songs were added. Instead of opening with Algorithm, the album now opens with Atavista, which I feel works way better as an opener. The second song added Human Sacrifice. Long time Gambino fans will know Human Sacrifice has been a song Gambino had in the vault for a WHILE. The song was originally for an ad for Google Pixel back in 2019. So after 5 years, it was finally released in its full form, and could not be more welcomed. (The comments are very funny now because it switches between people begging for the song and people now celebrating that itās finally released)
Lastly, there are a multitude of mixing changes across all the songs, as well as some new features on already existing songs, and the removal of some transitions. Now I will do my best to compare the two versions, but itās gonna be difficult because of the main drawback of Gambino re-releasing the album.
As with all updates nowadays, because Gambino released a new version of the album, it means you cannot legally find or listen to 3.15.20 in its original form anymore. All streaming services will have Atavista and no mention of 3.15.20. You can find some songs from 3.15.20 on YouTube but you probably wonāt get the whole continuous experience as an album anymore.
Which leads to the question, which one is better? Was it worth Gambino to re-release the album? I would say Atavista overall is better and it was worth the re-release. Not everyone noticed that 3.15.20 was released cause A LOT was going on in the world that caused his surprise drop to go under the radar. And for the most part the changes made to the mixes were worthwhile and flesh out the sound better. That said there are a few gripes I have about some changes, but nothing major.
If you havenāt listened to Atavista, give it a listen. There are no skips imo, and it goes through quite a few genres with a couple of pop tracks, some funk ballads, a couple straight hip hop songs, and of course a gospel song for good measure. I gotta a lot to say about the track individually, but overall, spoiler alert, Iād give this album an 8/10. Top 3 Gambino albums for me.
Imma be doing track breakdowns but this post is long enough so those will come later.
