Written by: Alex Green

Larkin Grimm’s tangential biography is made up of exotic travels, communes, hippie parents who fled a cult, eco warriors, a Cherokee shaman and a tenure at Yale done in intervals.

As wildly unfocused as all that sounds, Grimm’s got a voice that’s about as focused, pure and beautiful as they come. Soul Retrieval is a stirring collection that has all the musical invention of Joanna Newsom and the folk purity of Mia Doi Todd. “Paradise And So Many Colors” is lush pop exuberance, “Without A Body Or A Numb And Useless Mind” is a folksy battle march of joy and “Dirty Heart Dirty Mind” is one of the most soul-penetrating numbers you’ll hear all year.

Later, “Hello Pool Of Tears” is angelic and sonorous and the album closer “I Am Real” which finds Grimm uttering, “You can do anything,” comes with a dark and moving assurance.