S. Carey –
better known as Sean Carey, the drummer for Bon Iver – knows how
to stay on the top of his solo game. After surprisingly captivating us with
single after single of ethereal beauty from his debut effort All We Grow, the soft voiced drummer has
returned in 2014 with the transcendent Range
of Light. The instrumentalist turned solo singer-songwriter has only
continued to perfect his craft with each new song release, supplying us with even sleeker orchestral
compilations and fresh environmentally inspired jams. And, yes – he’s done it
again.
Building across a sparse, spacey experimental
apparatus, album opener “Glass/Film” provides the record's whole ambience within
its confines, which is to say, it shows a certain intentional complexity in its
orchestration that Carey always strives to add. This follows straight into
“Creaking,” another track piggybacking on Carey’s attention to detail,
especially in the way it creates a complex soundscape revolving around water
droplets, the pitter-pattering of pans, and jittering electronic beeps.
Even Carey’s writing has an astonishingly
wholesome, honest
tone to it, as is the case in the single “Fire-Scene:” “The city’s fire trapped behind the earth. Digging in your
deepest dirt. The reddest hue reminds you of you. Clinging love and falling
true.” Bounteous amounts of string-based instruments, pianos, electronic beats, and several other contemporary elements fill the sonic landscape of not only
this song, but the entire album, highlighting a much more rounded collection of
tracks than what was released with All We
Grow. Tranquility flows throughout one of the album's strongest songs
(despite the minute and a half timespan) titled “Radiant,” a completely calming
assortment of refreshing vocals and earthy tones. Closing out the essentials is “Crown the Pine,” the delicately layered new single that forges a
peaceful and serene atmosphere around the xylophone strokes, airy vocals, and elastic,
rhythmic beats.
Let’s just point it out that Range of Light is not what you would call radio friendly.
However, that’s perfectly acceptable and even better in this case as S. Carey’s
album has found its niche within a calming listener ship in places like an
office or waiting room, whereas beat-heavy indie-pop or hip-hop fails to mesh
with in the same way. Although some of the noises used to inspire this album
may sound quite uncommon or off-putting at first, the entire soundscape S. Carey
builds in Range of Light is
definitely something that needs to be heard first hand.
Grade: A-
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