Los Angeles-based artist Jessica Pratt has released a heart-breaking and elegant new single, ‘World on a String‘, from her upcoming album Here in the Pitch, out May 3rd via City Slang.
Following last month’s lead single ‘Life Is‘, ‘World on a String’ sees Pratt exploring her lower register with longing, her band crafting a backdrop of daubing keys, and a subtle sweep of arrangements ripe with an array of soaring hooks. On the track she sings “I used to want for what your desolation hadn’t come by / And as your seconds spark our turning off and turning up now … I want to be the sunlight of the century / I want to be a vestige of our senses free”.
Speaking of the single Pratt says:
“On this track I was influenced by the swaying, naive brilliance of ‘lost’ teenage garage rock bands, as well as enduring loves like The Nazz and Guided By Voices. Record the song moments after you’ve learned it on an instrument you’ve just picked up. Oftentimes, that’s all you need.”
The ‘World on a String’ video was directed by Kate Bollinger (Ghostly International).Speaking of the video Bollinger says:
“Making this video with Jessica was a dream art project. We emailed for days, discussing the song and trying to combine the images we saw in our heads while listening, eventually landing on a mondo style march-of-the-pagan village meets field of freaks. We brought in many friends from Los Angeles: 2 DPs, Leanna Kaiser and Gilles O’Kane, to get the found footage sort of multi perspective feel with a mix of super 8 and 16mm, 20 cast members, and Evangeline Neuhart to help with the production design. It was a big group effort and a day I’ll always remember.”
Over the last 12 years, Pratt has become one of the most singular songwriters of her generation, largely through the mystical, elusive blend of just her delicate acoustic guitar and breathtaking vocals. Here in the Pitch, however, is a very different kind of album from Pratt and features some of her most adventurous music yet. She envisioned a more expansive set of influences—“big panoramic sounds that make you think of the ocean and California”— and throughout these nine songs, timpani, glockenspiel, baritone saxophone, and flute are layered alongside robust vocal arrangements that create a triumphant mood, even when the lyrics hint at devastation. The album’s tone can range from comforting and even chipper to a malevolent quality. Pratt notes the influence of Los Angeles’ strange, seedy history and the bleak end of the hippy era on the album; “the dark side of the Californian dream”. “I spend a lot of time worrying and imagining bad things happening”, Pratt confesses. “So maybe the idea of creatively inhabiting a character who wields power is interesting”.
Pratt worked on Here in the Pitch at Gary’s Electric Studio in Brooklyn with her trusted collaborators, multi-instrumentalist/engineer Al Carlson and keyboardist Matt McDermott, and enlisted the rhythm duo of bassist Spencer Zahn and percussionist Mauro Refosco (David Byrne, Atoms for Peace) and contributors Ryley Walker, Peter Mudge (Mac Miller, J.I.D.), and Alex Goldberg. Five years after her 2019 breakthrough album Quiet Signs, Here in the Pitch sees Pratt re-emerging with new ambition and new parameters for what her music can be.Pratt will be touring with a full band in support of Here in the Pitch. After selling out her show at London‘s Union Chapel, she has added a second show at EartH Theatre. Full dates and tickets are available below.Photo Credit: Samuel HessHigh-res images can be found here
Pre-order Here in the Pitch here:
https://jessicapratt.lnk.to/hitp
<Here in the Pitch tracklist:1. Life Is
2. Better Hate
3. World on a String
4. Get Your Head Out
5. By Hook or by Crook
6. Nowhere It Was
7. Empires Never Know
8. Glances
9. The Last Year
Tour dates:31 May – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound
2 Jun – Paris, FR @ L’Alhambra *
3 Jun – Brussels, BE @ AB Theater *
4 Jun – Amsterdam, NL @ Zonnehuis *6 Jun – London @ Union Chapel * SOLD OUT
7 Jun – London @ EartH Theatre ~18 Jun – San Diego, CA @ Lou Lous %
20 Jun – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom % SOLD OUT
21 Jun – Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy + Harriet’s (Outside) %
22 Jun – San Francisco, CA @ Bimbo’s 365 Club % SOLD OUT
25 Jun – Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret %
26 Jun – Seattle, WA @ Neumos %
27 Jun – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom %
29 Jun – Sonoma, CA @ Gundlach Bundschu %
18 Jul – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line ^
19 Jul – Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre ^
21 Jul – Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival
22 Jul – Cleveland, OH @ The Roxy ^
24 Jul – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom ^ SOLD OUT
25 Jul – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom ” SOLD OUT
26 Jul – Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live ”
27 Jul – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair ”
29 Jul – Washington, DC @ The Howard Theatre ”
30 Jul – Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom ”
2 Aug – Nashville, TN @ Basement East ”
3 Aug – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West “* = with Joanna Sternberg
~ = with Astrid Sonne
% = with Tony Molina
^ = with June McDoom
” = with @Tickets are available here:
https://www.jessicapratt.net/
