Nourished by Time’s The Passionate Ones is awe-inspiring

Brown isn’t too different from you and me, even though his supposedly sudden breakthrough might suggest otherwise, given his 2023 debut Erotic Probiotic 2 topping year-end lists, recent signing to XL with his 2024 EP Catching Chickens, and vigorous touring schedule. No, he’s a cunning and consistent artist devoted to his principles. In the years leading to his deserved acclaim, Brown endured thankless drudgery to finance his music – his last retail job was at Whole Foods, he wrote his debut in his parents’ basement in Baltimore, and above all, he kept on dreaming of better.

The Passionate Ones was penned with Brown bigger than ever; the album written between London, New York, and Baltimore, synthesising each city’s eclectic sounds into a fusion of lo-fi synthpop and R&B, laced with optimistic poeticism. However, it’s still coupled with words on heartbreak, workers’ rights, and defying capitalist and class exploitation – each a human notion that Brown’s never rescinded. Despite music now being his job, he remains grounded.

What’s so beautiful about The Passionate Ones is the simmering afterglow in every song, enhancing his mixture of chillwave, Arthur Russell, and SWV. Brown’s more spacious arrangements have helped him eloquently articulate his compelling words, catching your unsuspecting attention whenever the music lulls. “Automatic Love” opens with nervous keys, but soars with freewheeling bongos and Brown’s accompanying cool baritone conveying a sensual promise: “My body won’t feel nothing until my skin touches you”. “Max Potential” is more uplifting than Catching Chickens’ “Hell of a Ride”; its title allegorical to Brown’s mission on this album, felt possible from the rising, larger-than-life electric guitar riffage. The swaying “It’s Time” is Brown’s glass-half-empty analysis of achieving his dream – “My whole life changed faster than a minute” – as he’s concerned to fall short of staying true to himself with his newfound platform – “I dreamed this life now I’m scared to live it”.

Love is the emotion that seeps its way through much of The Passionate Ones, but that affection enriches Brown’s proletarian ideals – he’s not afraid to hold the world’s encroaching systems accountable. On the danceable “9 2 5”, Brown recites the starving creative’s dilemma of working days to keep afloat, exhausted at night trying to pursue that dream, collapsing into vices. The sly, swerving “Jojo” with UK rapper Tony Bontana sees Brown opening up about wrestling with addiction. The elevating “BABY BABY”, a bouncy, mosh-ready standout, names Palestine and people’s complacency: “The evidence was haunting the world kept revolving”. The sophisti-pop “Tossed Away” is an apt bookend, with Brown affirming his moral roots – he’s not holier than thou, he’s struggled too, and he wants to use his anger to help others.

If there’s anything crucial to parse from Brown’s alias, Nourished by Time, it’s that there is eventually light at the end of the tunnel. We’re all trying to navigate this precarious world and make a difference. Brown is a resolute motivator, inspiring the need to do more and believe in oneself. The triumphant title track closes the album, swelling with such enthusiasm, musically a distant successor to Erotic Probiotic 2’s “Shed That Fear”, and he’s done that here. Brown is no longer trapped working feeling unappreciated. Now, he’s inviting people into his unwavering, vital psyche. If you're listening and agreeing with Brown, you’re already one of the passionate ones.