On his fourth album titled Chasing The Illusion, Larkin Grimm confronts his inner demons from the past by transforming pain into a possitive message of mother's unconditional love. The unborn daughter Larkin sings about is actually herself, reincarnated and born again, ready to accept both the truth and the illusion. Chasing truth and chasing illusiom, and how to differentiate the two is the main question of the record. Larkin claims it is a matter of personal freedom to select one of the two paths, and that is why this album is chatartic for her public and private self. Experimental folk that marked previous works of Larkin Grimm has reached its pinnacle here, since the singer went through identity search and managed to sublime it into an eclectic work of meaningful art.
According to Grimm, the album is dedicated to Ornette Coleman, who thought her to play without fear, and Alice Coltrane, who thought her to deal with loss through music. Departure of Coleman was the key trigger for creating this record, althouth there are no morose and tragic tones here. The loss is metamorphed into light music, not saturated with redundancy. Rich instrumentarium (harp, trumpet, flute, violin, synths) generate massive and intense sonic environment that is never heavy. The lightness of these instruments give the album its easy vibe. Bass support by Tony Visconti gives a special flavor to the album, especially on the track On The Floor that comes off as the most intensive and lyrically rich number. It sounds like the album cover came to life - tired woman lying on the floor.
Ah Love Is Oceanic Pleasure unfolds the record with sea tones and melodies, as If Larkin wants to make clear that she is going to solve past issues and free herself. Her vocal sounds much more placid and natural than ever before, without any experimentation and pretense. The song sounds like an homage to love and nature. The same story continues on Fears Transform Into Love (Journey in Turiyasangitananda) in which saxophone and trumpet create a jazz context that sometimes shows itself as world music.
The first single I Don't Believe You resembles her previous work, so it comes as no surprise that it became a hit. It is equally chatartic and transformative as the rest of the album, with vocal being both desperate and full of strength. Keeping You Alive is the most experimental tune and it sees Lakin directly speaking to her daughter. Title track closes the album and leaves no place for doubt that Larkin cured herself with this record and gave us the conclusion that chasing illusion can sometimes bring you closer to truth.
