On The Passionate Ones, Marcus Brown is asking us to cease sleep strolling. “We don’t should be so common,” the artist referred to as Nourished By Time urges on the slyly dissonant “It’s Time.” He clarifies, like an impassioned good friend giving a pep speak, “And I say that with love.” The tune’s refrain is speedy, bolstered by a light-weight g-funk groove; it’s catchy and vivid, however within the background crude reverby guitars conflict and stumble. At its core, the tune encourages us to embrace individuality over conformity. And that’s actually all Brown needs — create jams, unfold love, and reside his life to his truest type.
We already knew that Brown had a talent for barely left-of-center tune constructions from final yr’s Catching Chickens and 2023’s Erotic Probiotic 2. However the Baltimore musician’s knack for revolutionary, off-kilter genre-mashing manufacturing that feels lo-fi and concurrently polished reaches a brand new stage on The Passionate Ones. In truth, a lot of the album feels wide-eyed — refurbishing retro sounds in a framework you’d by no means count on them. That’s why most of Nourished By Time’s work looks like it exists simply exterior of time, floating above like an all-powerful specter trying down on each the previous and future. Perhaps we’ve heard that sentimental pearly keyboard on “Fool In The Park” in a basic ’80s energy ballad, or the moody guitar from the title observe in a ’90s indie rock observe, or the jangly percussion on “It’s Time” in an early ’90s rap observe: The sounds appear indebted to the previous with out really dredging it up or being held again by it.
“The entire level I’m attempting to make is that we’re simply distracting ourselves,” Brown defined in a current interview. “Everyone knows what our essential goal right here is. Everyone knows that we simply need love and to be liked, and to present love. Exterior of all this different stuff—these imaginary issues we created—on the supply of it’s love. That’s the one actual reality.” That sentiment hits onerous on on the spot highlights just like the deconstructed new wave opener “Computerized Love,” on which he equates life’s goal to like and “Max Potential” the place love is final grounding drive.
Brown isn’t ignorant to the methods constructed to suppress us or international tragedy. He calls out the horrors of the Palestinian genocide in on “BABY BABY,” he samples a clip about breaking somebody’s cult mindset on “Cult Interlude,” and repeatedly all through acknowledges the fact of surviving underneath the capitalist drudge. The Passionate Ones chooses to be hopeful and romantic despite this world’s dedication to subdue our sparkle. Nourished By Time emboldens us to not solely open our eyes, however open our hearts.
Stream the album under.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries
The Passionate Ones is out now through XL. Purchase it right here.
