Seeking “classic song structure through a weird foggy filter,” JESSICA PRATT explores the Stygian corners of her mind amid a deep, hypnotic hush. One question: are you ready for the singersongwriter who finds Leonard Cohen upbeat? “There are definitely no happy endings,” she tells TED KESSLER.

You want it darker: “Shit’s been really bad but I think we’re going to be OK,” says Jessica Pratt.

Photography by NINA GOFUR

THERE’S A QUOTE BY LEONARD COHEN ON THE INNER SLEEVE OF HERE IN THE Pitch, the spectral new album by the Californian singer-songwriter Jessica Pratt: “The fact is that you feel like singing, and this is the song that you know.”

In a mid-’70s interview, Cohen had been asked about his reasons for writing. After a ramble around the possible explanations (“to keep busy, avoid the pool room”), he landed on this: he just wanted to sing a new song of his own.

This seemingly simple idea resonated deeply with Pratt, partly because people are always asking her what her songs are about, and what drives her creativity. On a promotional tour of European cities, in the past week she’s been probed in Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam on the other-worldly ambience of her music, what gives it its timeless feel. In such circumstances, she says now, sitting in an east London café, the Leonard Cohen quote offers reassurance.

“You don’t really think of Leonard Cohen as being a reassuring guy, but it feels profound too,” the 37-year-old ex-Amoeba Music employee explains in her crisp, measured speaking voice. “Whatever you produce or write can only be made by you. You’re only really capable of making music with your own specific spiritual imprint, with your essential qualities.”