Julia Pratt Releases “Carolina”
Today, Philadelphia’s Julia Pratt releases “Carolina,” the first single from her forthcoming EP, out now via RECORDS. Baring her most core anguish through music, from the destruction of her family, to her lived experiences as a woman of color, Pratt’s new music is her most therapeutic and necessary writing to date. While applying R&B techniques to indie-folk, her sky-grazing music exists to let listeners know they were never alone.
On “Carolina,” Pratt folds all of her history into a haunting song about returning to someone, something, someplace you used to love, but just can’t seem to recognize anymore. The song’s layered exploration of identity, of what it means to be a daughter grown and changed, of searching for home, matches the echoey wordless harmonies and loping guitar. With her youth full of questioning and conflict, Pratt now turns inward for her present conviction of identity.
“‘Carolina’ is about returning to a person/place that was once called home and realizing that it is no longer that,” shares Pratt. “The song that spawned this project, ‘Carolina’ recounts a moment when I returned back to North Carolina, the place where my family ended, and was hit with the true realization that it was all over. I struggled to accept that I am not who I was then, and it pained me to think that this place, that has held so much significance in my life, may not even recognize me anymore. ‘Carolina’ is about belonging, loss, grief, and the concept of home, told through the eyes of a woman who feels she has no place in this world.”
Today’s single also arrives with an official video, the first part of what will become the EP’s short film. Directed by Samantha D’Alessio and filmed in isolated landscapes of nature, Pratt conjures up the same level of vulnerable intensity in her physical portrayal as she does in her lyricism (which you can see above.)
In the upcoming months, Pratt will be joining tour dates with Amos Lee, flipturn and Angie McMahon. And in June, she will join the lineup of Green River Festival alongside Fleet Foxes, Cake and more. See all upcoming tour dates here and below.
Over the last couple of years, Pratt has seen her influence bubbling up in Philadelphia and beyond. After a serendipitous online encounter that caught the attention of fellow Philadelphians and indie-folk giants Mt. Joy, the artists joined forces for the intimately aching “A Little Love.” With that new wind under her wings, she then went on to release her Two to Tango EP. Her stunning live session for WXPN and opening for Brandi Carlile, The Revivalists and The Head And The Heart, mixed with her ever-maturing songwriting, have primed Pratt for the release of her upcoming EP.
Featured photo by Madi Napieralski