Staff Reviews

Jessica Pratt - Quiet Signs

Review by Jasper Willems

Quiet Signs often sounds like you hear familiar pop staples in their most eroded states.»

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Quiet Signs is the journey of an artist stepping out of the darkened wings, growing comfortable as a solitary figure on a sprawling stage. Jessica Pratt is not a loud performer. She does not have to be. In a club of a few hundred, even the bar staff are known to go quiet while she's on stage. Her third album, Quiet Signs, feels like a distillation of this power. The album leads off with Opening Night, a nod to Gena Rowlands' harrowing, brilliant performance in the John Cassavetes film of the same name, as well as to where this spare, beautiful collection of songs falls within the course of the California artist's career. Quiet Signs is also Pratt's first album fully recorded in a professional studio setting, her songs and guitar arrangements have been pared back to include only what is essential, while the home recorded haze of previous efforts parts to reveal the full scope of her vision. On the first single, This Time Around, Pratt hits on a profound, late-night clarity over just a couple of deep chords, evoking Caetano Veloso's casual coastal brilliance.
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