HARPOON

First album from the Amerindian folk singer in a recent flurry of them (Alela Diane and Mariee Sioux come directly to mind) and somewhat of a weird descendant of Buffy Sainte-Marie that has hugged many trees, smoked many plants and ate many mushroom in shamanic rites and play mainly acoustic instruments. Yup, I'm speaking of Wyrd folk in its American pendant

Larkin's debut album is a real quiet affair, mostly her and her guitar with a bunch of effects, sound collage between and during songs. Grimm is a credible folk songwriter or even a folk singer that is not looking for success the way the other two Amerindians (listed above) are. Wyrd Folk often includes so lo-fi artiste, but in Grimm's case, I think it is more a problem of not having a producer guiding her into a better and fuller album. Although her music is also very inconsistent, there is not one track that stands out from the rest of the album and while most songs do sound a bit alike (as well as sounding flat), it's also mainly due to a lack of musical dynamics in the production of the sisc.

While Harpoon depicts a story of fisher up in the polar circle, it appears that she was a tad too ambitious in trying that stunt directly off the bat. Her acid folk is not devoid of quality and her future albums will be of greater interest, but this first shot is best avoided or forgotten, although predictably in another two decade, many music snobs will hail this as a pure gem of the all-too forgotten noughties (read 00's).