Mantras

Katie Pruitt

Released on 5/04/2024 by Rounder
Main artists: Katie Pruitt
Genre: Pop

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Katie Pruitt's 2020 debut, Expectations, was really good. Her latest, Mantras, is great—a true fulfillment of potential. The new shine begins straight off with "All My Friends," a catchy bit of country-rock that fits in with Americana peers like Wednesday and Waxahatchee, but also evokes the energy of Heart Like a Wheel-era Linda Ronstadt. The song's title is borrowed from a poem by Christian Wiman and Pruitt, who grew up in a religious Georgia household and later rejected much of her family's conservatism, uses it to explore the idea of everyone trying to find faith in something. "Moved away and unfriended the Jesus freaks/ Tarot cards, now you tell the future/ Learned how on your Mac computer/ Still putting your faith in something you can't see," she sings. Indeed, the whole album is about searching and questioning, and Pruitt is a talented lyricist who convinces you with every detail. "Dinner table silence, internal teenage violence/ Starin' in my father's stress-filled eyes," opens "Blood Related." Pruitt, who is queer, has said that one is about being on opposite ends of the political spectrum from her parents, but still finding shared compassion. (Her mom sings on the track, which includes background din of her dad and brother from old home movies.) "You talk about salvation like a birthright/ You use it like some kind of excuse," she sings on "White Lies, White Jesus and You"—the title referencing "some things I put behind me." It starts off as a piano-driven ballad before a 1970s Waddy Wachtel-style guitar cuts in like a clarion. But Mantras is not a nostalgia play. Ruston Kelly co-wrote part of the record, and the excellent S.G. Goodman also helped shape it. Pruitt has said she's inspired by Brandi Carlile, and you can hear the strong influence of Carlile's older work in songs like the folky "Jealous of the Boys" ("'Cause he makes it look so easy ... He's never had to hold his keys/ Keep his knuckles curled") and "Self Sabotage," a sweet-sounding ballad that builds to Pruitt wailing, over and over, "Abandon this self sabotage." Other songs, like "Leading Actress," feel akin to Julien Baker's solo work. So does "Worst Case Scenario," which finds Pruitt singing, "I am the king of disaster prevention" before guitar crashes in like thunder. It's a good joke, setting up the line "Cause if I expect the worst/ I'm staying ahead of the curve." Pruitt's voice is clear as a mountain stream on xylophone-inflected "Naive Again," and there's a beautiful moment near the end of the character-study "The Waitress" when she and orchestral strings almost meld into one. © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz

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Mantras

Katie Pruitt

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All My Friends