Review: Passenger – Young As The Morning Old As The Sea

Young As The Morning Old As The Sea is the eighth studio album Michael Rosenberg, aka Passenger, has released since 2007. “With every album you learn from the mistakes of the last one. After a while you really hone in on what you’re trying to achieve. So hopefully, by album 31, I’m going to be really happy. I feel proud of this record, like it’s a really strong group of songs. The production value has improved so we’re getting there.” A journeyman musician with a wanderlust that will not cease, Passenger continues to busk on a regular basis. A dual citizen, thanks to a British mom and an American dad, he spent the summer traveling around Europe and the United States. “I love the honesty and simplicity of it. You don’t have to buy a ticket or be a certain age. There are no barriers. Literally as well, there’s no barrier between me and the audience. It’s just direct and spontaneous and I think it’s really special for people as well.”

In the wake of the unexpected fame he’s received from his breakout song, “Let Her Go”, which hit number one on the charts in 18 countries and has a video with more than a billion views, Passenger was propelled into the international spotlight without ever having had a single voice lesson or song spun on the radio. He says, “Some people call it a one-hit wonder with a negative connotation. In my opinion, I’m so happy that in my lifetime I was able to give the world a piece of music that meant so much and got to so many people. If that’s the only time that happens then so be it. I’m pretty happy with it.” Passenger is in a reflective stage of life and both the album and interviews he’s given are clear testaments to this fact. The album’s title is a perfect bookend statement for the time. He is young and yet the roads that call to his wanderlust have left their mark. “Before my writing was more about the people I would meet. Now more and more it’s about the environment in which I meet them and I like it. Getting older you start thinking slightly wider. Before I traveled differently.”

As a musician who asks fans at live shows to put away their gadgets and be in the moment, the most surprising thing about this album is the production. Gone is the natural grit of Passenger’s vocals. While it’s softer, smoother, it’s not necessarily better. It’s a matter of preference, but he could well have afforded to keep more of the unique qualities in his voice. The overall quality of production, combined with his voice, is reminiscent of some of John Denver’s best work. There is a soothing, calming quality to even the saddest lyrics. Both, “Fool’s Gold” and “When We Were Young”, leave you with the legend’s ghost in the room begging you revisit “Take Me Home, Country Roads”.

“The Long Road” is the song that will make any wanderer stop in their tracks for all the right reasons. Back-to-back with “Fool’s Gold” these are the 1-2 punch to knock any traveler off their feet. Anyone who’s felt the highs and lows that a life well lived provides – dreams reached alone, amazing experiences no one can relate to and the life you have inside of you that has no soulmate to share it – these are your proof you are not alone in the universe. The road has left Passenger worn and tired, struggling to sort out how and when to transition into a less transient lifestyle. The angst is real and it is stated without pretense or expectation of resolution. This is the same feeling you got from some of Denver’s finest works.

No one but a kindred soul could have written these songs in a way that speaks directly to the core of what keeps a person on the road or the fears that the lifestyle creates. Passenger said in a recent interview, “You can travel your whole life and really just kind of scrape the surface.” Even the production of this album is a reflection of his spirit. Recorded in New Zealand and shot in Iceland, Passenger says, “Both countries are beautiful and offer this cinematic wide-screen landscape and I think it really helps the album.”

For me, the gold in this album is in those two songs but I’m a fellow journeyman. Will they lead to commercial success? I don’t think that’s the point of them, nor a concern of the writer. “If you keep on doing something for the right reasons and try not to get swayed about whether it’s flavor of the month or not, you just keep on doing your thing – you write songs, you play them as well as you can, you work hard, you’re a nice guy – that’s all you can do. And it’s fantastic. When I’m unhappy is when I’m worrying about external things. If you can do that, and you’re happy with that, that’s all you can do. The rest is up to the universe.”

The overall vocals on the album remind me of a male Orla Gartland with Ed Sheeran’s production team. I couldn’t say if that’s good or bad, it’s simply a matter of personal taste. If lyrics are your musical sweetspot then this album’s going to be on heavy rotation. “When We Were Young” may not be Adele’s vocals or The Faces’ “Ooh La La” lyrics, made famous by Rod Stewart’s 1998 cover from his old band, but the caliber is reached. Like its predecessors, this song is going places. If you have tracks by Erick Macek in your music database, the opening chords of “Anywhere” will make you think your system has randomly shuffled to “On The Other Side Of The Road”. Called “a really simple, summery upbeat song” by Passenger himself, I couldn’t describe it better. If his naysayers are looking for his next commercial success this is the song that has the teeth to chart-climb.

The album’s title track, “Young As The Morning Old As The Sea”, is a complete change of pace that really does it for me. You’ll be drawn back to the age of The Doobie Brothers with the 70s pedal trick but it’s Chaka Khan’s “Ain’t Nobody” that will jump into your mind and let your body know it’s okay to groove along. “Home” will remind fans of “Scenes From An Italian Restaurant” to shuffle Billy Joel’s hit back into their playlist. This distinct song mimics Joel’s build but the execution leaves you wanting. The only song that leaves me flat is “Beautiful Birds”, but duets are hard to pull off. Maybe on album 31.

 
Written by Sam Gilman

Sam I. Gilman is a music journalist who has been involved with the industry as a DJ, voice-over talent and on-air host for radio and TV stations around the globe. www.gilmansays.com

 
Author’s rating for Young As The Morning Old As The Sea

Pop Magazine’s official rating for Young As The Morning Old As The Sea

Rating key
MASTERPIECE a must-have
SUPERB for heavy rotation
EXCELLENT a great achievement
VERY GOOD a respectable result
GOOD worth checking out
FAIR an average outcome
WEAK not convincing stuff
BAD an underwhelming effort
VERY BAD quite a waste
FAIL a total failure