Jessica Pratt
On Your Own Love Again (Drag City)
Saudade is a Portuguese word that cannot be translated directly into English. In so many words, it is a melancholy feeling of nostalgia for something or someone that is no longer there. Jessica Pratt's music is the embodiment of this sentiment.
California songstress Jessica Pratt arrived in 2012 with her self-titled debut, making tiny ripples in the ocean yet remaining relatively unknown, despite garnering a small-yet-dedicated following.
With the arrival of On Your Own Love Again, Pratt has been turning ripples into waves, riding on the cyber-success of the album’s first single “Back, Baby”, a swinging acoustic ditty. Echoes of Linda Perhacs and tropicalia star Caetano Veloso resonate as she strums her acoustic guitar and sings the melancholy line, “Sometimes I pray for the rain”.
Her voice may remind some of fellow freak folk-ette harpist Joanna Newsom, but Pratt’s specific style of intimate, colourful acoustic craftsmanship is far from the elfin squeaks of Newsom.
"Jacquelyn In The Background" is folk balladry at its best, creating a sombre ode to a friend that sounds both lovely and incredibly sad. "I've Got A Feeling" begins with a plucking pattern that opens up into a vocal line doused in dusty rose harmony.
Pratt recorded and produced On Your Own Love Again at home, and there are wonderful nuances of white noise and recording buzz that can be heard throughout the record, upping the charm and timeless quality that makes her music so special. She's who you've been missing all along...
Rating: ★★★★★
