"In a year dense with records about disillusionment, few feel as tactile and tender as The Passionate Ones (XL Recordings). Marcus Brown, the Baltimore-born, London-and-New York-seasoned artist behind Nourished by Time, has made a sophomore album built on contradictions: punk in spirit, R&B in delivery, brutally political, heartbreakingly romantic; deeply digital and yet full of flesh and blood."
"More patient and swollen with intent than 2023's Erotic Probiotic 2, this album is what crawled out of that wreckage and peered around - still in the same tattered hoodie with a vintage Zippo in its pocket. as its heart beats louder than the accompanying synths. Indeed, Passionate is 12 servings of protest music disguised as love songs (or maybe the other way around?), as Brown aches for connection and rails against the soul-stifling grind of class warfare while trying not to lose himself in the noise."
"The romantic and the revolutionary aren't just side-by-side here - they're the same story. Over a delightfully cheesy and aspirational synth melody straight off the Tootsie soundtrack, "9 2 5" finds him sketching a version of himself barely keeping it together by "working restaurants by day" and "writing love songs every night." But Brown is thankfully still dreaming with his eyes open when he offers, "may you always have a fight, be it wrong or be it right / shed a raindrop when you cry, but beware of sedatives and passing time.""
The Passionate Ones finds Nourished by Time navigating sharp contradictions: punk spirit with R&B delivery, political urgency with tender romance, and digital production with human immediacy. The record feels more patient and deliberate than 2023's Erotic Probiotic 2, emerging from previous wreckage with bruised resilience. Lyrics pair working-class detail and romantic longing, balancing protest against class warfare with intimate vulnerability. Songs range from exuberant synth-led moments to slow-dance prom ballads, blending cheesy aspiration and earnest confession. Production mixes inventive whimsy and fleshy textures across twelve tracks that often disguise protest as love songs while seeking connection.
Read at SPIN
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