Sometimes life can render you directionless. As you wander aimlessly down several paths, you desperately try to figure out when this void will come to an end. Sooner or later, you have a revelation: the experiences encountered along the way are often more important than the final destination itself. It’s nearly impossible to avoid philosophy when listening to Growing’s debut album, The Sky’s Run Into The Sea. The Olympia, WA, trio’s skillful manipulation of electronic drones and feedback results in a unique form of ambience, triggering a multitude of thoughts that evoke both a feeling of hope and despair in the listener. Starting an album with a 15-minute track can arguably test a listener’s patience, but the range of dynamics provides a revolving atmosphere on the appropriately titled “A Painting.� The layered textures often play a hide-and-seek game, disappearing for a while but then powerfully returning to the forefront. If this whirlwind of sound could be visualized, an enormous blank piece of canvas but quickly end up looking like a Jackson Pollock masterpiece. While vocals are almost completely absent on the 5-track album – except for the indecipherable murmurs on “Southern Rites� - there are several guitar melodies that will slowly sink into the listener’s consciousness, including an interpretation of the Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood� melody on “Tepsije.� This hour-long journey finishes with “Southern Rites,� a soothing ending that combines the cricket-chirping ambience of KLF’s Chill Out with classic shoegaze experimentation. If it wasn’t explicitly evident by the end of the first track, Growing has found its niche as a welcome addition to Chicago’s Kranky label.

By Darren Eke
Nov 30, 2003