Saying that Prarie Cat’s new album Is Cary Pratt is actually light as a feather can really go two ways - that it is so light that it will slip by almost anybody unnoticed and that it is so light in its character (with intention) so to make it easy on while you listen. Those who have heard Pratt’s first three albums seem to opt for the first option, but I’d say his intention was to create something of a true pop record that would be able to transmit what he wanted to say in the lightest possible way.
Since I’m not familiar with his previous work, I’ll have to stick to the idea that this is the real Cary Pratt. Something he himself tried to confirm in an interview tied to the release of this album. Another indicator pushing me in that direction is the active participation of the producer Ryan Dahle (New Pornographers and Hot, Hot Heat among others), and if that does not give you a clue of trying to make a perfect pop record, what does. But, what do we get in the end?
We get a truly modern version of the Seventies Wes Coast pop/soul. Give it just one cursory listen, and it will definitely simply fly away by you, just like a feather. But it is just like any sophisticated soft drink - the more you sip it, the more it pushes you to do it over and over again. All great Wurlitzer piano sounds, harmonies, and soulful backbeat. The arrangements keep on uncovering new little elements as you keep playing the songs over and over. If you dip into the lyrics, it is the usual love-loss-rejection triangle, but Pratt is far from mundane and the ‘lighter’ sounds might just be the perfect vehicle to transmit those tougher parts of that triangle.
I still don’t know what kind of music Pratt made previously, but Is Cary Pratt is a feather he can freely stick onto his hat. Easily.
