British singer-songwriter Passenger (aka Mike Rosenberg) is set to release his tenth studio album, ‘Runaway’ (31 August), that will be followed by an Australian tour in November.
On the phone from his home town in Brighton with a few days off before the “chaos begins”, Mike has managed to stay calmer now that he’s ten albums deep.
“I remember releasing my first album felt like it was going to be the one and only album I ever did, it had to be perfect and anything that went wrong is an absolute disaster.
“Nowadays after doing ten of them, you’re like ‘oh well’ if it doesn’t quite go to plan, and it never does because it’s life.
“I have certainly got better at accepting the way of it and just rolling with it a little bit better. You get a thick skin after doing music for a while, you get used to rejection and disappointment,” he laughs.
Mike calls Australia his second home with good reason. He’s always returning whether it’s for touring or recording. Mike has recorded nearly half of his albums in Australia with ‘Runaway’ being recorded between England and Australia.
“My producer, Chris Vallejo, has a studio called Linear in Sydney. Four or five of the past six records have been recorded in that studio; it’s a nice thing to do, heading over to Australia in January or February [summer time] to record and get out of the bleak English winter.”
Despite being recorded in the UK and Australia, ‘Runaway’ has a rich Americana sound that was inspired by a backdrop of American landscapes.
If travelling between the UK and Australia wasn’t enough already, Mike and his team headed to America to record an official music video, acoustic video and behind the scenes video for each song on the album – 30 in total.
“It’s stupid, it was such a stupid idea. I’m so glad we did it, but what you were saying about having no days off, there’s a prime example.
“We were only in the States for just under a month; it was just this epic road trip. We were driving and filming for 13, 14 hours a day. I’m so proud of this project and the fact we’re releasing a new song every three weeks.
“It’s different and a really fresh approach to giving my music to people. It’s nice knowing half the record is already out in the world.
“There are no rules, you can be really creative with how you get your music to people [these days]. I feel with this record we’ve done that and it has been really exciting.”
Passenger became a household name when his 2013 single ‘Let Her Go’ exploded in popularity, and having just passed two billion views on YouTube it’s one of the most-viewed songs in the world.
Despite this popularity, Mike remains down to earth about his success. “I will say at least one billion of those views are my parents,” he jokes.
“Everything about that song is weird, the whole thing is completely weird. It should never have gotten that big. It’s an acoustic ballad. The video cost us $2,000 to make and we filmed it in The Factory Theatre in Sydney.
“Five years on, I really do stop and think about that song now. It’s weird, but I’ve just kind of accepted it and moved on. But there are moments where I can actually realise how incredible it is and how lucky I am. It’s such a joy and a story to tell my grandkids.”
‘Runaway’ is released 31 August.
Passenger Tour Dates
Thu 15 Nov - The Tivoli Theatre (Brisbane)Sat 17 Nov - Forum Melbourne
Sun 18 Nov - Enmore Theatre (Sydney)
Tue 20 Nov - The Gov (Adelaide)
Fri 23 Nov - Astor Theatre (Perth)
Sun 25 Nov - 3 Oceans (Margaret River)
