Passenger – Wicked Man’s rest

Shows a willingness to experiment

No-one really every asked for electro-pop-folk, and yet somehow, first with Get Cape and now Passenger, it has become part of the musical landscape. Hence the lightweight hooks, paper-thin melodies and insipid vocals that weighs down this album.

Driving force Mike Rosenberg is obviously a talented songwriter, and still only 22, but the bland vocal delivery and some incongruous moments, including the frankly creepy stalking jaunt ‘Walk You Home’ turn adequate songs into three-minute trudges.
There are bright spells; the title track at least corrals the band’s talents into one place and ‘For You’ shows a willingness to experiment, but by and large the impact is negligible, and even the relatively short 40 minutes of this record fail to hold the attention . This album is reaching out to be embraced, to be cuddled by all, but ultimately it isn’t cute or clever enough to take into your arms.

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