Headed up by Mike Rosenberg, /Passenger are a five-piece from Brighton with a different take on pop. The 23-year-old founder pens unsettling songs about stalking, wasted lives and the despair of abandoned dogs, all with an alarming eye for detail. 

Is there something he’s hiding? “That I have a disturbed mind, you mean?” laughs Rosenberg. “No, not at all. Even my darkest songs have a sense of humour. The worst crime you can commit in pop is taking yourself too seriously. Passenger has its down tempo moments and some of our songs are quite sensitive, but they all share a certain quirkiness. In the end it’s about storytelling – creating characters and sending them off on a journey.” 

None of their songs are what you could call straight down the line, it’s the juxtaposition of music and lyrics that tends to throw people.