Being passionate in the modern day requires commitment. It can seem like people are scrutinising your every action, waiting to tell you that you’re wasting your time on your chosen passion; that there are any number of “more important” things that should take precedence. Being passionate means being vulnerable – and it doesn’t take much for that to be exposed. This is where we find Marcus Brown, aka Nourished By Time, on his second record The Passionate Ones; trying to forge, maintain and embellish connections with the people and things around him that make him happy, even as the wider world tries to tear at his peace.
He welcomes us to the record with “Automatic Love”, a retrofuturistic soul number that has him down on his knees praising a “supernatural connection” with someone. This relationship is what drives him through the days and keeps him going; it’s pure and simple and gives him life. His ardor is inflamed again on second track “Idiot In The Park” where he admits “Everybody’s out here protecting their heart / but I need a love that leaves a scar.” Love is no trifling thing to Brown; it’s something he has to hold close from harm.
This overwhelming craving for love is furthered on “Max Potential”, where he sings “If I’m gonna go insane / least I’m loved by you”, but does so in a powerful slow-jam style that underlines the triumph of this proposition. However, this is not a one way street; Brown is here to cradle his partner’s mind in return; “I’ve been witness to what you been thru / I know what paranoia consumes you”, he intones, making his proclamation of undying love all the fuller when that powerful chorus returns.
Not all of The Passionate Ones is purely romantic though; Brown also has plenty to say about quotidian stress in this demanding world and the struggles he’s been through to reach this point. “It’s Time” features low-key funk to set a low-lit mood where he can look in the mirror and talk to himself honestly: “we don’t always conquer madness in the moments we want”. Through this self-examination, underlined by head-nodding bass and smouldering synth, we learn of his history, his fears and baggage, resulting in an open-hearted portrait of an impassioned man.
Brown steps outside of himself on “9 2 5” to sing gorgeously about someone who waits tables by day and writes songs by night. Over percolated dance pop production, we hear that he’s “tryna beat the system / manifest a vision” and that “he won’t let the dreamer die” and through the joyous sample work and infectious rhythm – not to mention the gorgeous vocal – we can feel Brown’s affinity for this character – a true Passionate One. This dovetails nicely with the later track “Jojo”, where Brown sings of battling through poverty, addiction and rejection to follow his dreams, receiving a helping hand from rapper Tony Bontana who spits about overcoming his own trials and tribulations; “let that pain get inspired / we hard wired for love”.
“BABY BABY” is another examination of life in the modern world, but it flips the script both emotionally and musically. Discarding the danceable and smooth sounds that characterise most of the record, Brown here sets down a rush of synths, samples and skittering drums over which he raps in a unique style about a life lived recklessly; “low on money / high on passion”; “sick of getting blood tests”; “I want the rain instead of dancing in the sunset”. Amidst this barrage are asides about sex, bombs dropping on Palestine and the brainwash of consumer culture. Done with Brown’s singular panache, it’s a stand out for all the right reasons.
Brown rounds out The Passionate Ones by grounding it back in tales of romance and connection with a trio of the most affecting songs he’s released. “Tossed Away” is a twinkling slow jam with honeyed vocals that could easily be taken for a straight up love song, but a deeper dive into Brown’s imagery suggests something more troubled and trying is at play. These scars only serve the chorus, making his proclamation “I want you to know that I’m reaching for you” cut all the deeper.
“When The War Is Over” follows and feels like a rebirth. With glistening piano and a crisp boom-bap, it sounds like the sky clearing after a stormy period and finds Brown uncoiling, letting his guard down and finally succumbing to the love that he craves and needs. “Is it safe for me to fall in love?” he asks; “baby if you love me / maybe I’ll surrender”, he sighs, a pinwheeling synth solo going off in the background like subtle fireworks.
The Passionate Ones concludes with its title track, where Brown swirls together all the themes that have come before into a strident throwback pop jam that’s a perfect concluding statement. It finds him, the titular “passionate one”, torn between the past and future, giving himself to both, ripping out his heart and presenting it to the sun. “Love can be painful / Love can be great,” he sums up succinctly; “I met a girl and she can relate”.
With The Passionate Ones, Brown has laid his cards on the table; put himself and his passions out there for all to inspect and, hopefully, applaud. After all, he’s done it with such style; shifting magnificently through different prisms of pop, soul and R&B, but making it all of a piece. The result is a testament to what can be achieved by committing yourself to your dreams and desires, and it should see Nourished By Time handsomely rewarded with growing notoriety and admiration.
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