Jessica Pratt's Got Madrid on a String

Right around a lustrum after her last concert in the Spanish capital, Jessica Pratt returned to Madrid to present her newest project, Here in the Pitch, on November 15 at Independence Club. In a 45-minute set, she and her band transported the audience somewhere unearthly through heavenly vocals, soulful guitar and bass strums, and saxophone accompaniments—the newest addition to her acoustic repertoire.

Though her name might ring a bell after her recent feature in A$AP Rocky’s HIGHJACK, a single that has already amassed about 30 million streams on Spotify since its release in August, Pratt has been forging her name as a folk musician in the tradition of Bridget St. John and Sybille Baier since the early 2010s. Named her best album yet by publications such as NPR and Pitchfork, Here in the Pitch comes to life completely when performed with an artistry like Pratt’s. She manages to take these rather confidential and private ballads and make them even more—if possible—intimate live on stage.

Opening for her for the first time was Australian singer Jack J, born Jutson, whose dreamy instrumentals and reverberated vocals not only deepened the hunger for Pratt’s act but created an ocean of tranquillity all their own. As he sang bits and pieces from his new album Blue Desert, one couldn’t help but notice how fitting the pirate flag painted on the background (the venue’s logo) was. It felt like floating adrift at sea, waiting for an adventure to come by while peacefully enjoying the tide’s movement. His recital was complemented by dark and enveloping electric guitar backings. Though heavy and sleepy—or perhaps just deliciously hypnagogic—Jutson’s set minutes were an invitation to surrender to the music for the remainder of the evening, all while becoming a fresh and cherished discovery.

When Jessica Pratt’s time on stage came, she and her crew wasted no time introducing the show. They immediately checked the sound and gave feedback to the engineers behind the curtain, making the smallest of tweaks to ensure everything was perfect. And boy, was it perfect. Any fears of a muddy resonance dissipated completely as the first chords of World on a String thrummed, and the crowd fell into a deafening, attentive silence. If Pratt’s voice already felt angelic and extraordinarily crisp when listening on-demand, hearing it live will raise questions about whether one had been hearing clearly before.

The pirate skull in the background became relevant again, JP’s siren-like voice reeling the attendees in with beautiful melodies such as Opening Night and As the World Turns, both from her previous record, Quiet Signs. Other songs made a lovely return to the stage, like Greycedes and On Your Own Love Again, from the album of the same title.

Her discography is already minimalist—featuring hardly any collaborations and no standalone singles—and Pratt embodied the adjective to a tee as she moved through her setlist with a grace and simplicity that older folk and avant-garde singer-songwriters like Nico had rocked before. She barely addressed the audience, except for the soft, cutesy “thank yous” she murmured under her breath after every song.

As the dreaded end of the gig approached, The Last Year began to play. The energetic, albeit hushed, sing-along that had slowly arisen during the well-loved track Back, Baby came to a sudden end, replaced with yet another comfortable silence—only gentler and occasionally broken by a young couple in the second row who couldn’t help but whisper the lyrics to each other. That tenderness-filled moment was the cherry on top before a three-song encore that helped cool off the room before stepping out into the night—a perfect close to what truly was a magical evening in Madrid.

It goes without saying that Jessica Pratt succeeds at being the century’s sunlight—or, at the very least, the sunlight of the evening.

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