Jessica Pratt Wonders What “Life Is” on Lead Single and Music Video for New Album “Here in the Pitch” out May 3

Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter Jessica Pratt chases a horizon of fading dreams on her new song “Life Is,” the lead single from her forthcoming album Here in the Pitch out May 3rd. She’s also revealed plans for a tour including performances at Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles on June 20th and Pappy + Harriet’s in Pioneertown on June 21st.

Bathed in a blissful but melancholic raiment of glowing instrumentals, “Life Is” finds Pratt wrangling with the moments that thwart and hinder aspiration. “The chances of a lifetime might be hiding their tricks up my sleeve,” luminous but wearied, she ensnares herself lucidly. “Used to be the greatest now I see.” Its sweeping emotion augmented by the resonance of interposing drums and glockenspiel, their dulcet tumble made all the more radiant thanks to warm mellotron generations of trumpets, strings, and horns.

Yet despite its alluring gloom the song seems to encourage — in the aftermath of getting knocked into the dirt by disappointment and disenchantment — to find a second wind. “Cause I can feel my luck has turned it all around,” Pratt coos with spellbinding euphony. “And when you’ve fallen out, get both feet on the ground / The curses you keep won’t follow you now.”

Her lyricism also tugs on the threads of ambition and delusion entwined within the very history of Los Angeles — a thematic focal point of Here in the Pitch. “I became obsessed with figures emblematic of the dark side of the Californian dream while making this record,” Pratt explained.

“Life Is” is joined by a dazzling music video co-directed by Pratt and Colby Droscher. Shot in New York, it evokes the filmography of both Kenneth Anger and Stan Brakhage featuring the image of a dancing Pratt overlayed like a radiant ghost atop the shadowy scenery of city streets and the bright bulbs of amusement park rides.

Words: Steven Ward

Here in the Pitch is out May 3rd via Mexican Summer/City Slang. See Jessica Pratt at Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles on Thursday, June 20th, and Pappy + Harriet’s in Pioneertown on Thursday, June 21st.

Visit Jessica Pratt on her website, TikTok, and Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.

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Jessica Pratt tour
June 2, 2024 – Paris, FR @ L’Alhambra *
June 3, 2024 – Brussels, BE @ AB Theater *
June 4, 2024 – Amsterdam, NL @ Zonnehuis *
June 6, 2024 – London, UK @ Union Chapel *
June 20, 2024 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom
June 21, 2024 – Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy + Harriet’s
June 22, 2024 – San Francisco, CA @ Bimbo’s 365 Club
June 26, 2024 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos
June 27, 2024 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
July 24, 2024 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
July 26, 2024 – Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live
July 27, 2024 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair

* with Joanna Sternberg

Watch the music video for “Life Is” the new single from Jessica Pratt below!

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