SOUL RETRIEVAL

The cover photo here reflects GRIMM's newish urban sophistication at the time, having come off the excellent "Parplar" release a few years prior, and inspires some fear that she may have gone abjectly mainstream. Luckily, "Soul Retrieval" is but an extension of its predecessor's aspirations. The ensemble now includes the legendary TONY VISCONTI which can't hurt. The opening number and the wonderful "Without a Body.." (perhaps her best song to this point) do flirt with pop, but an off kilter version nonetheless, epitomized by the latter's fanciful whistle-like synths. "Be a Great Burglar" is the third highlight with its haunting and eerily familiar tune and approach. Unfortunately the rest lacks the consistency, exceptionality and variety of "Parplar", ranging from the buzzkill blues of "The Road is Paved with Blues" to the decent but lightly uninspired "Flash and Thunder Came to Earth", so this isn't quite the album that might lead to Grimm's ascension, even if you might be singing along in spots.