First Impressions: Here in the Pitch by Jessica Pratt

I pressed play on Jessica Pratt’s fourth album, Here in the Pitch, a few days ago and immediately liked what I heard. It’s simultaneously fresh and retro. Several of the reviews I’ve read call it and/or Pratt “psych folk”—a niche misnomer that, like its similarly silly synonym (or, depending on source, offspring) “freak folk,” is so named because the music incorporates atypical folk instrumentation. (That assumes her music is folk-based, of course.) Some have also compared her to Sibylle Baier, David Crosby, Karen Dalton, Joni Mitchell and Judee Sill, to namecheck just a heady handful, while others say her songs conjure the fabled Laurel Canyon sound. In truth, she’s ostensibly folk with a pop edge—aka a singer-songwriter—whose last album, Quiet Signs, added enough piano, flutes and strings to be called “chamber pop” in the Apple Music write-up.

Anyway, while out and about yesterday, I listened to the nine songs of Here in the Pitch along with Petula Clark’s greatest hits plus some of Lulu’s. It fit right in. There’s a definite ‘60s sheen to the production, which invokes the Beach Boys (circa Pet Sounds), Burt Bacharach and even Astrud Gilberto. Pratt’s accompanied by a rich array of instrumentation throughout, though said accoutrements never overwhelm. Her vocals are unique, with her phrasings similar to Clark’s. “I want to be the sunlight of the century/I want to be a vestige of our senses free,” she sings in “World on a String.” (No, not the Neil Young song!)

Whether she succeeds is anyone’s guess, I suppose, though the lo-fi nature of the 27-minute outing may hinder widespread acceptance. That said, there are plenty of airy highs to enjoy. “Better Hate,” the second track, is one example; like the album as a whole, it’s mid-‘60s pop stripped to the essentials. “Get Your Head Out” echoes “The Girl from Ipanema,” while her vocals on “By Hook or Crook” float forth like leaves on an autumn’s day breeze. Likewise “The Last Year,” which finds her recapping a tumultuous year but (like Mickey and Sylvia, Ike and Tina, and James and Linda) predicting happiness for her and her beloved: “I think it’s gonna be fine/I think we’re gonna be together/And the storyline goes forever…”