Passion has a name, and it’s the Michael Isley Band. Be as critical or pop-aversive as you like, but I think it fair to say this New Jersey man’s sophomore album You Have Me channels a genuine sense of feeling that can only bloom from real heartache and history.

“You can never lose your soul,” Isley croons in the album’s first single, and certainly–whether he is relating the romantic imagery of a lost lover’s silhouette in the dark of night or firing off a sensitive piano chord–you get the feeling that he doesn’t care much for the self-conscious presentation you often hear (or see) in musicians today. That it invokes the language of pop rock is bound to polarize listeners. He’s unabashed about his roots and inspirations, acknowledging bluntly that the record channels “power piano-driven-heartrock” and was written for a certain girl. But it simply provides the frame for Michael’s sentimental story and nonetheless maintains a certain independence worlds apart from the lowly bands with packaged lyrics. It’s buoyant, catchy and stands firm despite its musical ancestry.

You either like it or you don’t. But if you know Mike like I do (not like that), you will feel the raw sincerity and energy of You Have Me. Support an artist and cop yourself a copy from iTunes for $9.99, courtesy here.

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