S. CAREY all we grow

This article is hot off the presses. Published in this week's issue of The Brag...

Sean Carey was last seen on these shores as part of Justin Vernon’s touring band for Bon Iver. Seeing the group perform at Angel Place last year was a chilling, thrilling experience. So when Carey’s debut album dropped into my lap, I sat up and took notice.


Sadly, when I hit the ‘Play’ button my interest quickly wore off. I listened to All We Grow on the train, in the lounge room and walking through the city. I played it on the stereo, laptop and iPod. Heck, I even listened to it at night with all the lights out. But frustratingly, this damn record just could not hold my attention.


The curious thing is that Carey uses the same ingredients as Bon Iver. Everything is slow burning. Everything is quietly understated. Many songs are built on repetitive percussion and/or guitar; they take their own sweet time to reveal themselves. Mournful, layered vocals echo through the songs, deliberately telling you half the story, no more. The rest you have to work out for yourself.


So why does this record fail, where For Emma, Forever Ago succeeded? I think it lies in the repetition. Justin Vernon used this with deft skill on tracks like ‘Lump Sum’. He built something ghostly and atmospheric, while his plaintive vocals held you captive. But Carey, on tracks like ‘We Fell’ and ‘All We Grow’, clings to repetition to the point of monotony; and his voice just doesn’t have the same power of expression to rescue things.


Having been part of the Bon Iver story, maybe Carey would be best advised to branch out and do something uniquely his own. Or else he will always suffer by comparison.
 Article written by Andy McLean

Original article published in The Brag, Sydney. August 2010.

All We Grow will be released on JagJaguwar later this month.