Jessica Pratt

Her lyrics delve deep into the inner psyche, opening themselves up for a myriad of interpretations. In conversation, however, it feels as though Pratt is holding back, perhaps wary of being held accountable for anything she might say, which makes for an interesting contradiction.

“I had a very sustained period of transition prior to making this second record, which involved moving from one city to another – the city that I’ve lived in for a really long time – getting out of a relationship, I had some big family issues, just kind of a tumultuous year and a half. There was a lot changing and I had to sort of go a little bit numb to function throughout those changes. When it came time for me to make this last record, I was able to process a lot of it in the songs, and a lot of it was very unconscious, so I’m still coming to understand how the music reflects that period of time.”

Many of the tracks on Pratt’s second record, On Your Own Love Again, read as if they are directed at very specific people in the American songwriter’s life. Interestingly, Pratt has never been confronted with the question, ‘Is this song about me?’

“I’ve never had to deal with someone asking me point blank if something was about them – that would be fun though, I guess. Though that hasn’t happened, I wonder maybe if people know. I think I’m maybe too afraid to ask.

“I think a lot of that stuff you kind of realise long after the fact, of course when something comes out and people read reviews or talk about it, and offer their own slew of comparisons. People have their own ideas about what to take out of a song, which is a cool process – I like hearing what people take out of my music.”

Surely performing songs heaped with such intense levels of emotion and personal connections would be difficult, but Pratt looks at the situation with a sense of optimism.

“I think anytime you are in a position where you play songs with emotional content frequently, it has this way of morphing into something else entirely – they can represent something else, or you can precede them or perform then in a way that allows them to be a little more abstract. Music is a very valuable medium; I think that’s why it’s the easiest for me have that cathartic experience with it. I wouldn’t say it’s physically difficult – it just feels natural.”

Pratt seems wary of making any kind of statement regarding her influences, or even artists she looks up to, and keeps it fairly broad when I ask her what she is listening to at the moment.

“I just kind of listen to a lot of different music, but I certainly wasn’t infusing the music I was listening to with what I was making at the time. But I listen to a lot of stuff like The Carpenters. It’s hard to have a definitive list of people that influence me the most, but I love Paul Williams – he’s one of my favourite singers and songwriters. I think at the time of recording [this album] I was listening to The Walker Brothers a lot; I really like Scott Walker, the way he sings and his delivery. For some reason – I don’t know why – but I’m apprehensive about making a solid statement about my influences. These things, they come back to haunt you.”

It’s hard not to get the impression that Pratt feels somewhat haunted by her 2012 self-titled first album – granted, it was recorded in 2007 when Pratt was just 20 years old, and in some rather fortuitous circumstances. Tim Presley of Darker My Love, The Fall and White Fence heard Pratt’s demos on Facebook and contacted her, encouraging her to release her music, which she eventually did through Presley’s label Birth Records.

“I feel like that was extremely pivotal and I think that it lent me the necessary confidence to go forward in a much more dedicated way,” Pratt says. “I see that period of time as a very lucky experience.

“I don’t dislike my older material, but it was recorded such a long time ago, and it was released so much longer after it was recorded – it was recorded mostly in 2007 and I was very young,” she says. “People really like that record a lot, which is really cool, but I think anyone who tries to take themselves seriously with whatever they’re making maybe can have the tendency to not be able to see past the imperfections of their earlier stuff. When I was making the second record, the only thing that people knew was that first record, and I really wanted to prove myself – maybe I had a bit more of a bitter viewpoint on the first record. At this point, I don’t really have any interest in hearing the first record for a while, but I’m sure several years from now I’ll listen to it again.”

Recently returned from a whirlwind tour of Central and Eastern Europe playing support shows for José González, Pratt mentions that she is looking forward to the change of pace that her forthcoming Australian tour will provide.

“I like coming to this part of the world, because there’s not a million different places to play, the tours are a bit more leisurely, and I feel like it makes the shows better.”

[Jessica Pratt photo by Colby Droscher]