Tar quality
Californian enigma back in black on slow-cooked fourth LP. By Jim Wirth.
Jessica Pratt ★★★★
Here In The Pitch
CITY SLANG. CD/DL/LP
BACK IN 2012, when her self-titled debut became something of a word-ofmouth sensation, Jessica Pratt explained that her yen for a slightly distant sound was down to growing up listening to music on cassette. “That real dreamy, cloudy sound,” she said. “That’s kind of always what I wanted to go for.”
One way and another, Pratt has stayed true to that vision. Here In The Pitch is only the fourth LP the perfectionist songwriter has managed to let go of, but on the belated follow-up to 2019’s much-feted Quiet Signs, her ethereal songwriting, uncannily pitched vocals and penchant for Shangri-Las séance music continue to mark her out as an eerie one-off: Laura Nyro as painted by Joan Miró.