Passenger – Runaway
(Black Crow Records)
Reviewed by Emily Lipsys.
English singer-songwriter Mike Rosenberg, aka Passenger has just newly released his tenth studio album RUNAWAY in his 11 years on the music scene as a solo artist. This fresh new album kicks off with the track ‘Hell or High Water’-re-introducing us to Rosenbergs unique and recognizable voice, acompanied by instrumentation with a real country feel to it. It is the starting point of the rambling travels across the countryside of America, track by track being transported there with his music and his poetic lyrics. Instruments such as the lap steal, mandolin and banjo helps to give the authentic country sound to these songs.
The first stand out track that hooked me in was the fourth one on the album called ‘Lets Go’ – it has a beautiful swinging feel to it and very catchy tune featuring slide guitars and beautiful piano, towards the end fading to just a few instruments making the vocals the focal point. ‘Ghost Town’ is an alluring scaled back track that begins with Rosenbergs lyrics and the wellknown backbone of his music-the acoustic guitar. It slowly layers up with piano and vocal harmonies, leading into melodic strings with a beat behind it. This song has to be my favourite for its difference in composition, but also the lyrics.
“See the crash and the rust
See the ash and the dust
Feel it slipping through your hands
falling on the shoes and the shoulders ragged man……Sometimes it gets so cold down here, yeah I swear it burns
The wind like fire coming off of the grey lakes
Sometimes it gets so dark in here when I see it turn
Emptiness that moves within my soul… When I’m down in the ghost town”
Passenger describes the record as a concept album, and imagined these new songs as unfolding against a backdrop of American landscapes. ‘My dad is American,’ Rosenberg explains, ‘and we used to go over every other summer when we were kids. I always loved it. I guess I was seduced by it a little bit. It was such a culture shock coming from England.’ Runaway was recorded between the UK and Australia with his co-producer, Chris Vallejo, but its aesthetic is North American. Some of the lyrics refer to specific locations, such as Detroit and Yellowstone. And musically Rosenberg takes some inspiration in this album from the early works of Ryan Adams. Joining him to create his new musical offering are guitarist Benjamin Edgar, bassist Rob Calder, drummer Peter Marin and keyboard player Jon Hansen.
This group of 11 songs are a distinctive contribution to Passengers body of work to date, and definitely lives up to his mission to depict images/ideas/sounds of country America through it. As a whole it is a steady listen with not too much variation between songs, but it is still a good album, especially if you are a fan of Passengers earlier works.
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