After delving into upbeat, electronic music on 2009′s "The Takeover," Oakland hip-hop stalwarts Zion I enter a new phase of their chameleonic career with "Atomic Clock" (November 9th, Gold Dust), a moody, emotional record inspired by the group’s longtime admiration for reggae and dub.

While the group’s roots are still firmly planted in hip-hop, "Atomic Clock"’s cavernous, atmospheric vibe recalls both the classic roots reggae of Max Romeo and The Congos and forward-thinking dub mixing of UK artists such as Adrian Sherwood. “'The Takeover' was a very external record and we wanted to focus on fun, party music,” says emcee Zumbi AKA Zion. “This one is much more reflective and internal. We didn’t want to just recreate what we did last album. Art is not about living in the past.”

For "Atomic Clock," the duo employed live musicians to flesh out producer Amp Live’s original beats and thicken the overall sound. For many of "Atomic Clock"‘s tracks, Amp would create the skeleton of the beat himself for the initial direction before collaborating with the group’s live musicians to complement the sound and, in certain cases, redo the track live. In stark contrast to "The Takeover," which saw Amp and Zumbi e-mail verses and beats to each other to constantly tweak each song, the group and their collaborators engaged in days-long jam sessions, for the first time in their career, to best enunciate Amp’s initial idea.

For Zumbi, the writing style on "Atomic Clock" was much more instinctive than on past albums, and the result is a litany of emotionally introspective, brutally honest songs that both relay the emcee’s personal experience and delve into weighty topics including the transient nature of time.