Album Review: Jessica Pratt - Quiet Signs

Less is more, as they say, because uncluttered simplicity can be beautiful. It’s a rule that could be applied to most of Pratt’s previous work, but never so effectively as here.

Quiet Signs lives up to its name, as on many of the tracks Pratt’s voice is accompanied by nothing other than a faint acoustic guitar, occasionally with some barely-there piano or flute drifting in. As one might expect of a single, This Time Around is laden with strings, but they’re so gentle as to be gossamer-like. Crossing is about as loud and boisterous as the album gets, but even that’s characterised by elegant guitar and piano lines that trade back and forth like a dandelion head caught in the crosscurrents.

Often it’s the fine details that are the sign of a master, and they lurk in Pratt’s understated performance and subtle sense of harmonic balance. Her voice has a curious quality that’s part studio treatment, but mostly her own inimitable style. In sum, it’s a cohesive work of impressionistic music that instantly sets a mood and holds it until the final note dissolves.