The Student Playlist

Showcasing the Best New Music, Curating the Classics

REVIEW: Passenger – ‘Young As The Morning Old As The Sea’ (Black Crow)

  • 3/10
    - 3/10
3/10

Summary

Michael Rosenberg gives us another collection of songs that are mostly tolerable and pleasant enough, yet still feel utterly bland and emotionally contrived.

For nine years now, singer-songwriter Michael Rosenberg has made a name for himself under the alias of Passenger by tailoring melodic, coy acoustic songs for people whose music collection consists of Mumford & Sons, Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran CDs. The Brighton-based artist was sprung to stardom in 2013 after his heartbroken hit ‘Let Her Go’ climbed charts across the world with its catchy chorus and lovelorn lyrics, but he’s never quite ascended to those heights since, despite a rapidly growing discography. On his latest studio album, entitled Young As The Morning Old As The Sea, he once again uses the same blueprint to shape his songs, thus insuring his core fanbase will be satisfied, but leaving everyone else scratching their heads…

Rosenberg tackles the usual themes of relationships, age and time with his distinct quivering voice, which at times sounds so desperate to be sentimental that it ironically comes off as rehearsed and mawkish instead. He still manages to pair well with the music though, with ‘Anywhere’ and ‘Somebody’s Love’ standing out as the most memorable and enjoyable of the 10 tracks. There’s fewer acoustic cuts than on his previous efforts, but his folk influences are still present here and there, yet would likely cause Neil Young and Bob Dylan to recoil or roll their eyes upon hearing a song like ‘Home’.

The majority of the album tends to blur into one outside of these songs, but one other highlight is ‘Beautiful Birds’, which features a guest appearance from fellow south coast singer Birdy and whose voice provides some much needed variation, but sadly things never quite reach the powerful crescendo that it had the potential to. Overall, Young As The Morning… presents a collection of songs that are mostly tolerable and pleasant enough, yet still feel utterly bland and emotionally contrived. There’s nothing that’s bad enough to really inspire any hate, but there’s also nothing here that inspires any love or affection towards his music either. (3/10) (Woody Delaney)

Listen to Young As The Morning Old As The Sea here via Spotify, and tell us what you think below!

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