Baltimore singer-songwriter and producer Nourished By Time has released his highly anticipated new album The Passionate Ones via XL Recordings. Crafted between Baltimore, London, and NYC, The Passionate Ones is a sermon, a twelve-track catharsis, howled from the underbelly of late-stage capitalism, a blueprint for building your own altar in the ruins of the American Dream.
Marcus Brown, known as Nourished by Time, has unveiled The Passionate Ones to rapturous acclaim, holding a Metacritic score of 89 (Universal Acclaim). Critics agree the album is both expansive and intimate. The A.V. Club wrote that “from its opening moments, The Passionate Ones soars,” while AllMusic noted Brown has “certainly harnessed the zeitgeist.”
Songs like ‘Automatic Love’ and ‘Max Potential’ are repeatedly named as standout moments that tie personal longing to broader social critique. Check out The Guardian’s review.
For Paste Magazine, which awarded it a 9.2 rating, the record “stretches the scope… to hold the full range of both the anger and romance driving his writing.” Resident Advisor praised how it “ponders late-stage capitalism, loneliness and love over an impeccable blend of breezy indie pop and grainy electro-funk,” while Under the Radar called Brown “a voice for the ones that never had a chance to develop theirs.”
NOURISHED BY TIME – Automatic Love
Paste and The New Yorker emphasise the record’s emotional breadth: ‘BABY BABY’ gets called out for its sly wit and surf-tinged ease, and songs such as ‘When the War Is Over’ and ‘Hell of a Ride’ are highlighted as moments where Brown’s baritone and narrative reach feel most ambitious.
Nourished By Time – BABY BABY
The album’s emotional urgency has resonated strongly. Pitchfork awarded Best New Music with an 8.4, noting how it “foregrounds rawer, more physical elements, without sacrificing Brown’s booming, atmospheric textures.” The Guardian praised its “absorbing and cinematic” touch, where “aching, tremulous, earthy vocals swim under breakbeats,” while The New Yorker reflected that “[the album] catches your weariness, and, with a dreamer’s stubbornness, asks if you would consider transforming it”.
Pitchfork praise the record’s “rawer, more physical elements” singles out warm, club-ready cuts such as ‘9 2 5′ (a groovy, piano-led anthem about grind culture) while noting the album also contains darker, isolating pieces like ‘INSTANT DEATH.’
For others, The Passionate Ones is as much a statement as it is a collection of songs. The Quietus described it as “a suite of love songs and a call to arms,” while The Line of Best Fit admired its “simmering afterglow in every song.” And as Stereogum succinctly put it, Brown is asking us “to stop sleep walking.”
Nourished By Time
The Passionate Ones
The Passionate Ones is available now as a LP (black and crystal clear), CD and to stream on all digital platforms.
- Automatic Love
- Idiot In The Park
- Max Potential
- It’s Time
- Cult Interlude
- 9 2 5
- Crazy People
- Jojo feat. Tony Bontana
- BABY BABY
- Tossed Away
- When The War Is Over
- The Passionate ones
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