Jessica Pratt’s Voice Haunts the Historic La Tulipe

Jessica Pratt shone on Wednesday, as she played to a sold-out show at Montréal’s historic La Tulipe. With a brilliantly unique voice which sounds as though she time travelled from the 1930s with its transatlantic quirks, Pratt has been a critical darling, bubbling under the mainstream in the indie folk scene for a while. However following her meteoric rise amongst listeners after her collaboration with A$AP Rocky on the single “Highjack” from his soon-to-be-released album, Don’t Be Dumb, Pratt has been introduced to a new sphere of listeners and fans. Jessica Pratt has been the soundtrack for this year's languidly tranquil summer and it seemed only fitting for her to usher out summer with this late September show. 

Charming opener, Otto Benson, provided a pleasant foil to Pratt’s quaint vintage sound, rocking along to a frankensteined glockenspiel – fitted with bells and hooked up to a computer (for which he sold manuals at the end of the show). Although bashful, Benson beguiled the audience with his extensive musical capabilities. Though his melodies evoked the sound of acoustic legends such as Neil Young or Simon and Garfunkel, his lyrics, in contrast, had a twinge of the playful absurdity of a David Byrne. Singing about everything from acrylic nails to toothpaste, his lighthearted and silly lyrics, whistling and bell-fitted glockenspiel suggested a childlike quality to his music in contrast to his otherwise more mellow and sombre melodies and performance. Where there is a lack of glockenspiel in today’s modern music, Otto Benson single-handedly fills it.

Jessica Pratt made her appearance soon after, her mass of teased platinum blonde hair glowing like a halo in the spotlight. Opening with “World on a String” from her latest album Here in the Pitch (May 2024) Pratt’s raspy voice glided over the band like a record played through a gramophone. Her band were extremely tight and well-rehearsed, sounding virtually identical to their recorded studio sound, and leant an imposing sonic quality to Pratt’s performance. The crisp 60s atmosphere in the production of Pratt's latest album references The Beach Boy’s iconic album Pet Sounds (1966) as her main influence and the live studio band embodied this sonic 60s pop quality entirely. The set featured multiple songs from her latest album, including “Better Hate” which featured scatting from Pratt in an Ella Fitzgerald-esque fashion, “Life Is” (the lead single off the album), “By Hook or By Crook” and “Get Your Head Out” – featuring an underlying mesmerizing Bossa Nova groove. 

Pratt also made sure to play a few crowd favourites off her more raw and acoustic sophomore album On Your Own Love Again (2015), such as “Back Baby” and in an encore, ended with, “On Your Own Love Again”, eliciting a crowd sing-along which was simultaneously excited yet subdued; as if reverently trying not to overpower Pratt’s own whispery vocals. 

Despite limited between-song banter with the crowd, Pratt never failed to utter a meek yet earnest “thank you very much” after each round of applause from the enthralled audience. Fans eventually started a tally of how many times she said it (by my count, 19 times). Though shy and, for lack of a better word, slightly awkward, Jessica Pratt provided the audience with a truly bewitching experience. Pratt’s curiously charming and intriguing vocal stylings transported the crowd to something sonically resembling a back alley bar in a swampy bayou of 1930s New Orleans – despite the most recent album’s clear 1960s chamber pop influence and sound. 

The spirit of Jessica Pratt hung in the air as the crowd filed out in a languorous haze, as though processing the enchanting and ghostly presence they had just experienced. Like a warm hug from a comforting and nostalgic phantom, Pratt haunted the hearts of all those whose souls she permeated with her music.