Jack Larkin’s ‘Purkinje Shift’ LP Out Now, Shares Latest Single “Matches & Oil”
Jack Larkin’s career has been shaped by a constant drive to experiment and expand his creative range. The Southern California singer-songwriter began his professional journey after college, diving into scoring, production, and sound design while continuing to develop his own music outside of work. Spending his days immersed in other people’s projects only strengthened that desire to create independently. “I’d be wearing headphones all day at work, and then I’d get home and want to plug in the guitar,” Larkin recalls. That background has allowed him to approach his solo career from several perspectives at once, combining the instincts of a songwriter with the technical curiosity of a producer, composer, and sound designer.
Across four albums, Larkin has steadily reinvented his approach rather than settling into a single style. His 2021 release How to Cook a Wolf drew heavily from hyperpop’s cut-and-paste digital experimentation, while 2024’s The Wishing Well saw him challenge himself by writing within the restrictions of library and sync music. Those experiences ultimately laid the groundwork for his fourth album, Purkinje Shift, which brings the different sides of his career together in his most expansive work to date. Blending psychedelic pop, chamber-pop, acoustic songwriting, and electronic experimentation, the album reflects an artist increasingly comfortable pushing beyond his previous boundaries while maintaining a strong connection with the listener.
Jack Larkin’s fourth album, Purkinje Shift, marks a major creative evolution for the Southern California singer-songwriter, blending intimate songwriting with adventurous production and psychedelic experimentation. Drawing inspiration from the chamber-pop complexity of Daniel Rossen, the atmospheric folk of Nick Drake, Mort Garson’s early electronic explorations, and the kaleidoscopic sounds of Animal Collective and Olivia Tremor Control, Larkin creates a record that feels both warmly organic and unexpectedly strange. Much of the album took shape during an isolated 2024 writing session near Lake Arrowhead, where alternate guitar tunings, layered harmonies, electronics, and unconventional arrangements helped shape its expansive sound.
The record also brings together the different sides of Larkin’s career as a songwriter, producer, composer, and sound designer. Following the hyperpop-inspired experimentation of 2021’s How to Cook a Wolf and the self-imposed library music restrictions of 2024’s The Wishing Well, Purkinje Shift finds him embracing creative freedom while remaining focused on the listener. Its title references the Purkinje effect—the way human color perception shifts in low light—providing a fitting metaphor for an album fascinated by changing perspectives and transformation. The result is a richly detailed record that recontextualizes Larkin’s previous work while pointing toward an increasingly distinctive musical future.
Make sure you check out “Matches & Oil” on YouTube below and the rest of the Purkinje Shift over on your Spotify!
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Jack Larkin
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