JESSICA PRATT

From a blueprint stamped Drake and Mitchell comes L.A.s latest songwriting export, armed with a unique vocal style and an elbow dipped into the hot whirlpool that is, erm, psychedelic folk. Lighter in mood than the aforementioned Joni, Vashti Bunyan and Joanna Newsom but still possessed of an unexplainable and sombre darkness in the vein of Kirsten Hersh or Laura Veirs, Pratt's voice might divide onlookers but she's got something. A hybrid of mermaid and troubadour, Jessica draws you in with gently eddying string-play and descriptive word-play on Wrong Hand and Strange Melody before slaying you with atonal chord-changes on I've Got a Feeling and a song so good it could have been written by Tim Buckley - Moon Dude, superb. Some songs might benefit from a spot of colouring in - a violin here, a gently brushed snare there - but on the whole, On Your Own Love Again is crisp.

This review also appeared on Flipside Reviews

Paul PLEDGER
17/02/2015