Nourished by Time never wants to stop dreaming

Ahead of his second album, The Passionate Ones, the unique Baltimore musician reflects on his long road to success and figuring out “a way to talk about love and leftism in a pop format”.

When I call Marcus Brown, now known to the world as Nourished by Time, he’s spent the last couple of days with his dad doing his taxes. It’s a mundane task no one usually enjoys, but this year his receipts reflect the whirlwind he’s had since he broke through as a musician. It’s been really fascinating to see how I’m spending my money,” he laughs, noticing that his trips to New York barbecue joint Blue Smoke are now in the double digits. There’s some crazy wacky stuff happening on my credit card.”

Despite his hype in trendy music circles, Marcus isn’t above the drudgery of day-to-day admin. By the time he enjoyed a modest breakthrough with his debut album Erotic Probiotic 2 in 2023, the 29-year-old had already been a working – albeit struggling – musician for the best part of a decade, flitting between New York, LA, London and his parents’ basement in Baltimore. As someone who’s dipped his toe in retail and construction as a means of financing his art, that struggle, along with the drive to dream big and strive for better, has always been a central tenet of Marcus’ work.

On Erotic Probiotic 2, Marcus established a distinctive blend of lo-fi synth pop, funk and R&B, delivering his eccentric lyrics in a warm baritone. The album was released via underground music label Scenic Route, with whom he still has close ties, before signing with XL Recordings, who released his excellent EP Catching Chickens.

Now, Marcus is gearing up for the release of his triumphant second album, The Passionate Ones, which is dropping on 22nd August. Sonically singular and freewheeling, the album’s bouncy tunes are preoccupied with leftist ideals, workers’ rights, existentialism and heartbreak. The lyrics range from wrenching (If I’m gonna go insane, at least I’m loved by you /​If my heart should burst or break, it was overdue” on Max Potential) to delightfully absurd (Two idiots in the park /​Would you pay a psychic £20? /​She’s giving me the runaround” on Idiot in the Park). Then there’s his standout single, 9 2 5, which speaks to the thanklessness of service work: Working restaurants by day /​Writing love songs every night /​He can barely make it by /​And the man ain’t sober, no matter what he told you”.

To support the album, Marcus is heading out on a months-long tour which will take him through the USA and Canada, then Europe and the UK. I have the process of a hunter gatherer,” he says. I need to get out, see the world and see other artists to feel inspired. I’m in this strange space of being bigger than I used to be, but still very small in the grand scheme of things. But then, I need to fuck off for a few months to make sense of it all.”

I’m still angry, but I’m trying to express that from a different position. I don’t work at Whole Foods anymore. I don’t have to work construction anymore, to climb buildings to make money”

How’s being back in Baltimore working out for you?

Good. I can kind of be no one here. In New York and London, I’m more in the scene than I am in Baltimore. The scene here is more spread out, although it’s becoming more centralised, I’m noticing, which is really nice. There’s Animal Collective and the writer Lawrence Burney, who has a cool residency. So it’s nice having a bit of an oasis away from the noise. I need to move in on my own, but I don’t want a roommate, and that’s the only way to move out financially responsibly. I smoke a lot of weed, I play a lot of music, I walk around a lot, I eat a lot – metaphorically and literally.

So you’d call yourself a hungry artist?

I’m a very hungry person, but it’s purer than that. It’s powered by curiosity and insecurity in a lot of ways. There’s something I feel I need to strengthen, but I’m also inspired by chasing something that I’ll never be, and I’m trying to finding peace in that.

How long has The Passionate Ones been percolating in your head?

I started writing the oldest songs around the end of Erotic Probiotic 2, which are The Passionate Ones and Automatic Love. I wrote most of it over a month when I was living in London. I knew I wanted the album to be simpler and more direct lyrically, but also simpler from a production standpoint, without sacrificing anything. I wanted the songs to have more armour, I guess. When I say simpler”, I mean taking something complex and compressing it like a zip file, rather than having a folder full of shit – that was the goal.

How is this project different than Erotic Probiotic 2?

On Erotic Probiotic 2, I was so angry. I felt like it would be disingenuous to still play that character and still be that person on The Passionate Ones. I’m still angry, but I’m angry about different things and I’m trying to express that from a different position. I don’t work at Whole Foods anymore. I don’t have to work construction anymore, to climb buildings to make money. I was really doing that up until like, last year. So of course I’m in a different position. In a way, I’ve maintained those feelings that I had but I’m now using them to help or instruct others.

I was really inspired by Jay‑Z’s The Blueprint and Kanye’s College Dropout and Late Registration because they were all about teaching people and giving them a map for how to succeed and achieve their dreams. They’re very dreamer-based albums and I wanted to do the same thing, rooted in both hip-hop and R&B.

That’s always been the point of Nourished by Time, to push those genres outside of what feels comfortable…

Sly Stone and Brian Wilson recently passing away in such close proximity to each other is crazy. They were home studio musicians who revolutionised lo-fi music. Both of their imaginations are so inspiring.

Why did you choose that title, The Passionate Ones?

Everyone lives their life in such an interesting way, whether you’re a doctor or a sex worker, but one thing that connects everyone is that we all want to have passion in our lives – have something we care about and protect that thing. That’s what the basis of the album was for me. I’m finally able to live out my dreams, and when that happens, you have two ways to go: you can do your own thing, or you can help someone else. I’ve figured out a way to talk about love and leftism and existentialism in a pop format. I’m really grateful for that, to be able to stand up for something. I care about workers’ rights, I care about people, and I care about the human condition. Basically, this album is really just all about me – but we’re all mirrors for each other. So if it’s about me, it’s about you, too.

The Passionate Ones is out 22nd August via XL Recordings

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