THOSE who found Mike Rosenberg by accident – helped by the hype surrounding last year’s huge hit Let It Go – may be surprised to learn Whispers is Passenger’s sixth studio record.
Undoubtedly, the success of the past 12 months has left a mark. “I don’t know how to please everybody all of the time,” he almost pleads on 27, while at the same time defiantly declaring not to care whether his latest 11-tracker makes the charts. Few will buy that false modesty for a second.
Whispers builds on what was a successful formula in All The Little Lights, crafting soft folk sounds and blending those strings and plucked guitars into a more contemporary sound. Golden Leaves has a touch of Don McLean’s Vincent about it, but you can even hear the start of Let It Go in Heart’s On Fire as Rosenberg returns again and again to a familiar melodic refrain. He’s waited a decade for this and he is damned if he is going to change what has finally made him a star, even if he can’t help protesting about it.
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