Listen: S. Carey - "Fire-Scene"

                                                        (photo by Cameron Witting)

Bon Iver band member and a talented artist in his own right S. Carey released one of the most immersive, beautiful, and deeply felt solo debuts back in 2010 with All We Grow. It was a record that so brilliantly utilized the organic, emotive elements of folk songwriting that when S. Carey followed it up with the much less nuanced, more electronic-heavy Hoyas EP, it was a bit jarring to say the least when not unlike Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon, Carey tried his hand at autotune. S. Carey's new single "Fire-Scene" for his sophomore full length Range of Light however sees a sort of return to form.

S. Carey's main strength has always been an instrumental minimalism in his songs and that's clearly on display in "Fire-Scene". Simple melodies enable Carey's tender vocals to cover a wider emotional terrain and make the eventual build up all the more effective. Carey's song construction is downright scenic in its expansiveness and he makes astonishing use of the freedom provided from non-metronomic beat keeping. In fact, it doesn't rely the drum standard and employs a much more internal sense of time. Anything resembling an obvious beat is short-lived like the piano which turns more melodic than percussive after its entrance and a upright bass which follows suit.

Listen to the first single "Fire-Scene" from S. Carey's upcoming Range of Light out April 1st on Jagjaguwar: 

S. Carey - "Two Angles"

Most people know Sean Carey from his work alongside Justin Vernon in Bon Iver, as the group's resident drummer but the man is also a talented solo artist in his own right. Releasing his debut album All We Grow in 2010, S. Carey is now set to release a brand new set of tunes in the form of his Hoyas EP.

The new tune "Two Angles" is a bit of a departure from All We Grow which features rushes of emotion and artistic moment-capturing. Instead we get a much more experimental. The layering of S. Carey's debut is still there however instead of clarinets, piano, and drums, Carey goes a bit more digital. It's a new direction but one that is no less entrancing - one that makes you anticipate the EP's release.



S. Carey's Hoyas EP is out May 8th on Jagjaguwar.

S, Carey gets music video for "In the Dirt"

Wow what timing. Yesterday, I talked about how incredible S. Carey's album was and today, S. Carey released his first official music video. Crafted by two Swedish filmmaker brothers, Nils and Axel Byrfors, during the Christmas season; the video was actually purely a bonding experience for the two brothers who live on two different continents. After making the video, the brother then emailed it to Carey's manager who showed it to him. Well, Mr. Carey loved it and decided to make it the official video for the song. The video revolves around a little girl leaving home in the middle of the might, only to be tailed by her little brother. They end up having all sorts of adventures in the snow way into the morning time when they suddenly seem to realize the consequences of their actions and wait for their parents to pick them up. Enjoy the video for "In the Dirt":

"In The Dirt" - Official Music Video from S. Carey on Vimeo.

S. Carey - All We Grow (2010)

I first found out about S. Carey when he went on tour with Swedish folk singer Kristian Matsson aka The Tallest Man on Earth but what I didn't know is that I had heard S. Carey before. You see, S. Carey is the drummer and supporting vocalist for Bon Iver (one of Justin Vernon's evergrowing stable of musical projects). All We Grow was recorded during the band's initial hiatus in '08 and seems to some degree inspired sonically by Carey's time in Bon Iver. Ambient buzzes give way to stunning vocals and lovely layering that really illustrate Carey's talents as an arranger and multi-instrumentalist. Carey's work wields an abnormally great amount of musical power, his quiet barely-there tenor hits you with the intensity of a freight train while being simultaneously soothing and almost unassuming.

All We Grow is great from start to finish, entrancing with its weaving melodic lines aided in part by Carey's percussive skills. There's a real balance achieved between rhythmic percussion and melodic content that creates inescapably ear-catching pieces. While the use of ostinato could get boring, Carey's use of it (like the mostly percussive piano in "We Fell" and "In the Stream") is inventive enough to survive limitless listens with no complaint.