Jessica Pratt cracks open the sunny veneer of the California dream

On the surface, Los Angeles can seem like a sunny, glittering paradise. Palm trees, beautiful people and endless sunshine abound, but the California dream has a dark side, too. That’s what Jessica Pratt was interested in while she was working on her latest album, Here in the Pitch.

The LA-based artist immersed herself in books about the state’s seedy history, and she found inspiration in the work of experimental filmmaker Kenneth Anger.

In this session, Pratt talks about her fascination with the conflict of light and dark in California’s mythos, and about how the real and metaphysical mix in her songwriting to create an atmosphere that feels like something between a California dream and a California nightmare.

This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Miguel Perez. Our senior producer is Kimberly Junod and our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.