Written by: Jen Dan

Indie pop singer-songwriter Jessica Rotter recently premiered her lead single, “Pray For Rain”, off of her upcoming debut album Plains. The in-demand songstress has been heard in certain movies, TV shows, and commercials and she has also collaborated with and contributed backing vocals for some big-name artists like Sam Smith, Daft Punk, Carole King, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, and Alicia Keys. Rotter’s last track charted at #1 on Hype Machine and she’s continuing her winning streak with the release of her latest single.

“Pray For Rain” is sonically peppy and endearing as Rotter melds the indie pop, electronic, and alt-folk genres together and ties it all up with her light, clear, but emotive vocals. On the song, Rotter bittersweetly describes the tumult of falling in love in “uncertain times, lost times and times of revelation.”

Rotter’s roots are grounded in music, going back to her grandfather who wrote songs for Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. With this lineage, Rotter describes herself as a “musical storyteller”, with classical training from Pepperdine University in opera, musical theatre, and directing for theatre and film. She is equally comfortable using her voice in a major feature film (her credits include Pitch Perfect, Pitch Perfect 2, and Frozen) and performing one of her original songs live.

Expectations are high for Plains, which was produced by Cazz Brindis and mixed by Scott M. Smith (Carole King, John Mayer, Katy Perry). The 11-track album is expansively panoramic and welcoming, where Rotter’s glowing individuality and vocal nuance can be heard in each song, a rare occurrence in today’s over-produced musical landscape. The songs on Plains deftly blend the essence of Rotter’s own free-spirited travels with her early-60’s folk, Americana, and pop influences.

Plains will be released April 22nd nationwide.