Review: S. Carey - Range Of Light
[Jagjaguwar, 2014]
Rating: 6/10
By Sam Kayuha, Contributor
Key Tracks: “Glass/Film”
Over the years, pretty great things have happened when the drummer steps out from behind his kit and takes his turn as a frontman. The most notable of these, Dave Grohl, was the drummer in the revolutionary Nirvana, before becoming the most consistent fixture in the rock scene over the last 20 years with Foo Fighters. In more recent years, J. Tillman, the former rhythm section of Fleet Foxes, christened himself Father John Misty and dropped the fantastic Fear Fun.
Now we have Sean Carey, formerly the percussionist behind Bon Iver, with his debut album Range of Light. Much like the above mentioned musicians, S. Carey’s debut does not sound too dissimilar to Bon Iver’s work, and much of its instrumentation could have fit onto Iver's self-titled second album. Carey struggles to make his own brand of soothing, instrument-heavy music.
The album’s first song “Glass/Film” is led by an acoustic guitar and piano melody, but traces of horns and a banjo find their way into the song. It could easily to mistaken for a Bon Iver tune, but Carey’s voice is closer to that of a pop star than Justin Vernon’s signature falsetto.
“Fire-scene” is four-and-a-half minutes of plucking guitar and twinkling piano. The music is soothing, and is pure acoustic-indie, capable of lulling just about anyone to sleep. “Radiant” somehow manages to evoke a piano tone almost perfectly similar to Vernon’s version of “I Can’t Make You Love Me.” “Radiant” may be his attempt at his own love-scorned anthem, but it falls short in the passion department.
Harps abound on “Fleeting Light,” and it challenges the sitar strum on the same song for most out-of-place instrument on the record. The record ends on a downhill run, which is disappointingly boring when compared to how the album begins.
Even if Carey was never in Bon Iver, this album would suffer from comparisons to the band. The instrumental similarities are striking and each song is something of a disappointment when Carey’s vocals are heard rather than Vernon’s. Wiithout an interesting voice like Vernon’s in these songs, Range of Light comes across as boring.
Instrumentally, this record is great. Vernon is not the only reason Bon Iver got so popular; the arrangements on his records are fantastic, and Range of Light reveals that Carey had a big part in that. Still, as an S. Carey record, it should be considered a success to just break out of Bon Iver’s world—even if he barely did.
