S. Carey

All We Grow (Jagjaguwar)

By Sarah Grant
Published: September 4th, 2010 | 1:00pm

All We Grow is a red wheelbarrow full of surprising sonic forms, which are S. Carey’s meditative toolkit as he contemplates ideas of erosion and renewal with the solemnity of a monk. Album standout “Rothko Fields" has an important, albeit obvious, connection to the abstract painter, as the song mimics the depth of a Rothko canvas. Sound flexes intensely forward, then inward, like an underwater symphony of sea anemones pulsating to the tide. The shrewder connection comes with Carey’s handling of disparate instrumental forms. Whereas Rothko blurred the division of color, Carey blurs the division of sound texture and melody.

Sometimes the contrasts are obvious. On “Broken,” the piano line beats like a heart monitor for all six minutes and 40 seconds, while the vocals are built into a rich forest of heavier layers. On “In the Dirt,” human clapping falters into a baritone laser, to French horns and to piano. The song has a perpetual need to fill a void, which isn’t exactly clear until the moments it leaves us hanging in silence. Another cut, “We Fell,” responds to the minimalism of “Broken,” as the piano chord works double time, repeating vigorously, as if fleeing from the other ingredients. Eventually, the chord tires out, and the song devolves into a murky haze of deep sound. For the last 20 seconds, the barely audible noise leaves us forlorn and isolated, as if treading water on Rothko’s black canvas.

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Jagjaguwar Records