It’s hard not to be impressed.   When a young songwriter, 16 years old puts, out an album of such high quality, collaborating with some of the areas best and most respected musicians, it’s hard to not be blown away by it.

But when you look deeper at the work, it’s more impressive still.   It’s an absolute revelation.

Restless Soul, the debut album of singer/songwriter Mira Grimm is a deeply personal and ultimately hopeful message of triumph over emotional challenges and heartbreaks because of the disappointment of adolescent per group dynamics, estrangement due to circumstances and issues of self-image.

The album starts off very strong with the Latin flavored “Not  The Kind Of Perfect” , a statement of self, a message that they are who they are, no matter what perceived imperfections may be evident on first look, that perfection, is subjective.   The song features infectious rhythm from Edgar Pagan (Grupo Pagan) on bass, and Mira’s father Garnet Grimm (Savoy Brown, Sean Chambers) on percussion.

“Thrown Away” is a heartbreaking and beautiful lament to lost friendships and abandonment as time passes and friendships drift.  The next song in sequence “Alone Again” continues that theme and creates a sort of estrangement suite.  These songs expose the kind of heartbreak that adults have a hard time processing, to hear it from a young person’s voice and point of view is heartbreaking.  Deeply personal, and Mira plays all instruments on these songs.

“Traffic” comes from a place that we all have where our minds race in a million directions seemingly unable to slow the thoughts down, this traffic in our heads that gets in the way of seeing the world as it is, and it body blocks our happiness.    This happens to more people than you know, and Mira is telling us their experience with it.

The title track, “Restless Soul”  is a fun piece of Baroque folk-pop driven by the exquisite cello of Heather Kubacki (Quatro), a song about surviving the demons in ones head that you can tap your foot to.

“Truth Untold” explores themes of dealing with emotional issues, the demons inside, the self-doubt and worry, and hoping for deliverance for their troubled soul.  This features Chuck Schiele (Quatro) on vocals.

The hard work and dedication it took to put this work together is evident in the recording and arrangements of these tracks.

It takes a brave person to take all that’s inside, uniquely personal and often dark and challenging, and make art out of it for others, but I get the feeling that this kind of exposition of self, is something that is part of Mira Grimm’s DNA.  This work, on this subject matter is something she MUST do, just so happens that she’s better at it than many other of more advanced years.

Restless Soul is like reading Mira’s diary set to music, and it’s an amazing accomplishment for any artist regardless of age.