Nourished By Time’s ‘The Passionate Ones’ - A Testament to Perseverance Against All Odds
Nourished by Time is the pseudonym of Marcus Brown, whose debut album Erotic Probiotic 2 led to the attention of venerated record label XL Recordings and his eventual signing to the label.
Brown’s 2024 EP Catching Chickens was released to critical acclaim and has skyrocketed his popularity in the alternative music scene, and his sophomore album The Passionate Ones was released today through, you guessed it, XL Recordings.
Its twelve tracks amount to a forty-five-minute runtime, not short but also not overly long, the perfect digestif for the commute home from work, or aperitif for your pre-drinks before a night on the town.
The Passionate Ones differs from Brown’s previous releases, likely due to the change of pace in his life, less confined by the chains of working-class life, freer to pursue his artistry and indulge in the throes of the present, whilst remembering, even maybe, romanticising the past - writing about worries of old with a newfound respect for the characteristics which sprung from them.
Sonically, the album is littered with funk-infused thick synths.
It’s a muddy terrain, soulful and experimental, which is well-received in 2025… perhaps due to the work of artists such as the legendary Herbie Hancock and his 1973 album Head Hunters which was the victim of mixed reception by critics.
Idiot In The Park is a standout track on the album, humorous in its depiction of clairvoyants and their vague, generalised visions of a life. Typically, interludes are exactly that, an interlude, a filler, nothing special - the opposite is true here, Cult Interlude is an ear-catching track on its lonesome, followed by 9 2 5 which was released as a single before the album’s release. It’s a defiant ‘fuck you’ to the struggles of working-class life, having to work and still barely managing to get by, and above all, trying to keep our dreams alive - all over groovy keys and synths, it’s fast-paced (like life) and dancefloor ready, community building. Jojo featuring Tony Bontana offers a change of pace, sultry strings and basslines that sound like they’ve come from a down ‘n’ out Nile Rodgers (good thing). Bontana’s brummie dialect closing the track and Brown’s Maryland vocals coming in fast and fierce on BABY BABY is fucking class to be frank, what a transition between tracks. Tossed Away and When The War Is Over see a slowing in pace, welcoming the end of the album, and the title track The Passionate Ones.
It would be easy to go on and on about this album, and the intricacies that lie in every track, but to sum it up, if you were a fan of Catching Chickens, you’ll find a life-long companion in The Passionate Ones. It explores heavy themes such as addiction and heartbreak, yet manages to bear a grin throughout, immersing itself in the pain until it becomes cathartic, and this is the reality of the working-class; it’s all one can do.
Brown understands this, has lived through this, and this is his (and our) story.
