S. Carey @ The Deaf Institute, Manchester, 30 Sep

It feels as if S. Carey is out to address a couple of misconceptions tonight.

The Wisconsin native’s work under his own name is summarily written about with abundant reference to Bon Iver, given that he’s served a number of stints as Justin Vernon’s drummer over the past few years, including during the touring of 2016’s challenging and provocative 22, A Million. When Carey released his third solo album, Hundred Acres, back in February it almost felt as if he was happy to have the chance to leave Vernon’s electronic experimentation behind, and return to the straight and narrow of hushed indie folk. The general consensus seemed to be that Carey’s own songs were more For Emma, Forever Ago than anything that Vernon released thereafter.

Anybody arriving at a not-quite-packed Deaf Institute expecting Carey with an acoustic guitar and not a lot else though is in for a shock. He’s brought a four-piece band in which there are no clearly defined roles, with instruments and stage positions swapped frequently, and Carey actually spends most of his time sitting at an impressive looking synth rig with his guitar still in hand. It allows him to bring an unusual level of depth to the set, from handsome opener Rose Petals, which is brought alive by the thick swell of its bassline, to More I See, which is presented panoramically in quietly epic fashion.

There’s choice cuts from sophomore full-length Range of Light too, the pick being an extended take on Fire-scene with the simmering drama only hinted at on record flowing forth unbridled. There is one straightforward singer-songwriter moment for the encore, a charming solo take on Tom Waits’ Take It With Me, but Carey spends most of the evening demonstrating just how much he’s learned from his mentor and bandmate when it comes to subverting the audience’s preconceived ideas about this genre.