Nourished By Time: Erotic Probiotic 2 [XL RECORDINGS]

Why you'll love it

XL's pressing of Marcus Brown's debut, a home-made record of wobbly R&B, synth pop and soul that ended up on a stack of best-of-2023 lists. It is the kind of album people press into each other's hands.

This edition

• XL Recordings / Scenic Route pressing (cat# XL1483LP)
• Ten tracks, five per side

About the album

Marcus Brown wrote, recorded and produced Erotic Probiotic 2 in the basement of his parents' house in Baltimore, and you can hear the bedroom in every second of it. As Nourished by Time he takes the shiny sounds of 80s R&B and synth pop, the kind you might have heard on late-night radio, and smears them with tape hiss, lo-fi drum machines and a big, soulful baritone that sounds like it is singing from the next room. The songs are about heartbreak, money, faith and depression, and about wanting a better world than the one on offer.

"Quantum Suicide" opens with a lurch and a hook you will hum for days, "Shed That Fear" and "Daddy" pile on the emotion, and "Rain Water Promise" and "Soap Party" are sweet, dreamy and a little strange. It all ends with "Unbreak My Love," which might be the most heartfelt song ever recorded next to a washing machine. Critics loved it, and XL picked him up soon after. Not bad for a record made by a man whose mum could probably hear every note through the floor.

Tracklist

Listen

On XL Recordings / Scenic Route (cat# XL1483LP), a reissue of the 2023 album.