 | S. Carey |
One of the best albums in recent years was Bon Iver’s terrific For Emma…Forever Ago from 2008. Bon Iver was basically considered to be the main project of Justin Vernon and he essentially recorded this terrific dissonant folk album up in the woods in Wisconsin. While Bon Iver is inextricably linked to the front man Justin Vernon, the group did feature some other members who didn’t really get much attention or credit when that release was breaking. One of those people is Sean Carey, who performed live as part of the band of Bon Iver and performed on the drums, piano and guitar at the live gigs. The other musicians in the band making up Bon Iver, especially in the live setting, were clearly quite talented. Well now we have Sean Carey breaking out on his own and releasing this solo debut album called All We Grow. While the album certainly shares some definite similarities to the Bon Iver ‘sound’, he maybe take the album in an even more contemporary and lush direction and there are not the same soul types of influences that marked Bon Iver’s album. The result is ultimately a more open-sounding and dramatic kind of introspective alt-folk-rock album that is very solid from beginning to end and clearly shows Carey’s skill, distinguishing himself as being more than just Bon Iver’s drummer.
The album is very stream of consciousness, similar to For Emma, and generally has kind of meandering epic atmospheric folk tracks that kind of build on each other to reach some great climaxes. It explores more electronic and orchestral elements than on Bon Iver and employs more diverse instrumentation. The kind of passionate falsetto vocal style that Vernon has done so well is really pretty prevalent here, though not on every single track. This album combines more of the dramatic song style and combines it with that remoteness and introspection that made Bon Iver so great. A lot of the songs have hushed, slight beginnings that can grow to big (for introspective folk) hooks and choruses to close it out, at times even a little like Sigur Ros.
The songwriting and feeling of these songs is unmistakable, and if you loved Bon Iver you will probably love this as well. It relies a little less on a folk asthetic, but the same passion and feeling is there. The hooks are incredibly well done, and these songs are subtlely built little by little until they really deliver a full emotional charge. “In The Stream” is a perfect example, starting very hushed, having this hopping piano riff throughout the song that ties it together, going from quiet reflection to exclamation quickly at the end. “Broken” blends that soft, wispy piano with some incredible hooks and vocals along with some awesome atmospheric guitars to become this swirling catharthis to close the record. It feels haunting and familiar, much like Bon Iver, and he has created a batch of songs that stand up extremely well to his band’s 2008 effort.
This is a great debut by Carey and he has shown he has some incredible songs and styles up his sleeve. There is a ton to love about this record, and he has created an album that builds even further upon that atmospheric, epic folk sound that manages to blend diverse instrumentation and sweeping songs into a very intimate and familiar setting. Certainly if you were a fan of Bon Iver, I wouldn’t miss this one at all, and for those who found Bon Iver a little too remote or introspective, this may be a little more open and a little less claustrophobic to try and get into.
