Largely inspired by the ghosts of Hollywood's past, "Here In The Pitch" is Los Angeles-based Jessica Pratt's fourth album.
It's one of this year's most acclaimed records and has scored Pratt high praise from outlets like Pitchfork, Paste Magazine, and The Guardian. It's also a record that sees the singer-songwriter expanding her sonic palette. While past records have primarily featured Pratt's haunting voice and guitar playing, she subtly adds drums and bass to help round out the sound in "Here In The Pitch," giving the record a nostalgic sound that feels timeless.
WUNC Music's Brian Burns recently caught up with Jessica Pratt before her show on July 30 at the Haw River Ballroom in Saxapahaw.
This is an excerpt of an edited transcript of that conversation. You can hear the full interview by clicking the LISTEN button at the top of this post.
You've said that this album was inspired by the end of the 'Hippy Era' in California. Tell us a bit about what fascinates you about that time in history.
Well, I think California has an interesting history in general. Living in Los Angeles, it's difficult to move around the city without confronting a lot of that history. I've read a lot of books that relate to that era of time, so it's always on my mind. I wouldn't say this is a truly definitive conceptual record about that era in time, but it was sort of bouncing around in my head and colored some of the songs I was writing.
Living in Los Angeles, do you feel like there are any remnants of that era you still see?
Yeah, even just driving down the Sunset Strip, past The Whiskey, there's tons of history everywhere. It's kind of like being in London, or New York, or Paris, or New Orleans, these sort of vortexes where there's so much overlapping history.
Here In The Pitch is out now on Mexican Summer.
