Review, Nourished By Time @ Lincoln Hall
Written by Inés Gómez
Photography by Mira Henchi
9:00 pm, October 20, Lincoln Hall. Nourished By Time. Also known as Marcus Brown. Marcus from Baltimore, who works from London. Marcus, the singer and producer who stands in front of his computer with nothing more than a mixer and a microphone and rocks the stage. He’s not actually a rock musician though. His work is more like an incredible mix between alternative R&B, hip-hop, and lo-fi pop, which he managed to show how perfectly he can find the genre’s intersection in just a 30-minute set. And in just those 30 minutes, he managed to flood the venue with his indescribable energy.
Throughout his set, Nourished By Time was possessed by each one of his songs, while the music flowed around the venue with verses about life’s affronts and beats reminiscent of late 1980s pop and electro-funk. In “Quantum Suicide,” with his sensual, soft voice, he sings about dealing with the end of a relationship and heartbreak, accompanied by a gloomy melody that gives even more force to the lyrics.Through the dreamy synth beats in “The Fields” and “Daddy,” the last two songs NBT performed, and blue and purple stage likes that gave his performance an ever dreamier feeling, Marcus shares his anger towards capitalism, consumerism and systems within religion.
But NBT doesn’t like to preach. He actually said how he hates the “whole preach and sh*t” before playing his last song and walking away. Nourished By Time simply shares with us a small part of his soul and how he tries to navigate the world with dignity.
And I say share because it’s been one of the most intimate performances I’ve witnessed in this last year (I might’ve only been to four shows but it still counts). Between each song, which he chose as the mood whispered to him, Marcus would talk with the audience, which was small but lively and never stopped bopping their heads to his beats. From giving us an insight into his creative process and what’s his favorite song (“The Fields,” for those that are curious) to getting into philosophy territory and reflecting about the current state of the world. It felt as if you were listening to one more of your friends talk to you, and who doesn’t love when an artist puts himself in the same level as their audience?
Nourished By Time gave a stellar performance with his 80s-like, dreamy songs (that talk about all-too-real things), and small dances across the stage. His overflowing talent and naturality to make connections with the audience will definitely take him places.
