Jessica Pratt

Gorgeous folk music, beamed in from the dark side of the Californian dream. The music of Jessica Pratt is thumbing its way to RISING.

Spare, beautiful, mysterious. Jessica Pratt only needs her nylon-stringed guitar and a mic to envelop you in a dream. Over the last 12 years, the Los Angeles artist has carved out a reputation as a singular voice in folk. Inspired by bossa nova, psychedelic chamber pop and the ballads of Scott Walker, Burt Bacharach and Judee Sill—she writes songs that feel like winding the window down on an ocean-kissed drive. Her impressionistic lyrics and breath-taking vocals are intimate yet elusive. Right next to your ear but arriving from some dusk-lit distance.

On Pratt’s latest album Here in the Pitch she’s stretched out into an even more panoramic sound. Timpani, glockenspiel, baritone saxophone, and flute are layered alongside her vocal arrangements. She’s bringing her ensemble to the acoustically honed confines of the Melbourne Recital Centre for RISING for two intimate shows.