Jessica Pratt – S.T.

Jessica Pratt’s self-titled debut album arrived in 2012 on San Francisco’s Birth Records, a label started by her friend Tim Presley (White Fence) specifically to release her music. Recorded on analogue tape, Pratt’s ethereal songs arrived fully formed with dreamy vignettes of introspective characters, reflections on time, Hollywood, and other ethereal subjects. Compared to her later efforts, there’s a true rawness to these early minimalist lo-fi recordings that’s reminiscent of ’60s and ’70s introverted folk heroes like Nick Drake, Tim Buckley, Vashti Bunyan, etc., which was apparently attributed to the recording setting… Pratt: “That record was recorded in a studio that belonged to a friend of a friend. I wasn’t very comfortable. I felt very vulnerable. And there was a sense of urgency; I would do guitar and singing only, and usually just one take.”

If you haven’t yet caught Jessica Pratt’s live show, we highly recommend going to the August 9th show at the beautiful Ventura Theater. Tickets are available here.