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Larkin Grimm Debut Jumps Up Radio Charts
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Grimm's style reveals an iron willed strength
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Larkin Grimm's story has all the makings of an American folk princess fairy tale; that is, if Hunter S Thompson and Jack Kerouac were writing it as a Tim Burton screenplay. Born to artistic and multi-cultural parents (who were also longtime members of the Holy Order of the MANS religious cult), Grimm was set early to become either another casualty of weirdness and The Struggle (Fringe Edition), or to morph into something unique and darkly vivacious that mainstream society could never hope to spawn or to understand. Fortunately for us she chose the latter.
In addition to the hippy parents and extended cult family of her formative years, Grimm is in the incongruous position of having both corporate America and blue-blood New England aristocracy to thank for paving part of the way for her journey. Grimm's adolescent education came courtesy the Coca-Cola corporation in the form of a boarding-school scholarship for gifted Appalachian children; and another scholarship at the prestigious Yale University followed. She would take a few detours before finally completing her studies there though, including a trek across Alaska; studying the massage arts in Thailand; a stint living among eco-warriors and other tree-hugger types in a Washington commune; and an encounter with a Native American shaman that provided the catalyst for Grimm finding her musical muse among the forest sprites and spirits. Try and top that with the best fantasy novel you can find!
Today Grimm calls Rhode Island home, and has to her credit several studio releases chronicling the evolution of her unique sound. Her latest 'Parplar' demonstrates a level of compositional and technical maturity that bodes well for her future as an American folk treasure.
Singer songwriter Larkin Grimm carries her knapsack of stylized folk pop broadsides that suggest experiences of timeless expeditions through haunted, swampy borderlands of dark psychedelia, fun-spirited pop whimsy and an overflowing cornucopia of faux folksy Americana stylizations. Songs are brief, a series of rapid fire mood swings wildly divergent. Grimm's style reveals an iron willed strength.
Parplar starts strong with the hypnotic, breathy, emotional convictions of "They Were Wrong." When her voice stretches the syllables, one feels a bittersweet eeriness settling in that seems to grow richer through repeated listens. Baritone piano notes echo melancholic - reminiscent of a lone autumn walk through cool, blowing air. Guitar strums are full open chords while occasional snapping of individual strings creates effective, rustic texture.