Songfacts®:

• During this '60s-style pop ballad, Jessica Pratt explores themes of time, expectation, and self-reflection. Pratt's signature introspective style is evident as she contemplates life's unpredictability and its challenges.
  
  "Life came and went and you didn't land where you thought you would," she said of the track's ambiguous theme. "It's the third act and you're trying to climb back on the horse before it gets dark."
• Musically, "Life Is" departs from Pratt's usual solo acoustic sound with the addition of drums and bass, creating a downtempo and atmospheric vibe. Pratt's ethereal vocals remain central, but are now layered with a fuller soundscape.
  
  "Usually when I write something that sticks I know for a fact that it will stick," Pratt told Uncut magazine of the song's different tone. "But this one, the mood of the song felt a little malleable – like, the style that the song would be performed in. It took a second to gel. And actually it was a bit of a thorn in our side, but I kept coming back and reworking it, and eventually in the studio we were able to spend some time and concentrate it."
• The music video, shot in New York City, complements the song's introspective and somewhat melancholic tone. It draws inspiration from experimental filmmakers like Kenneth Anger and Stan Brakhage.
• "Life Is" is the lead single from Pratt's Here In The Pitch album, which is inspired by Los Angeles' hippie era. The West Coast artist said she became obsessed with "figures emblematic of the dark side of the Californian dream." She also described the record as "big panoramic sounds that make you think of the ocean and California."
• Pratt created the album alongside her longtime collaborator, the multi-instrumentalist/engineer Al Carlson. Also contributing are keyboardist and the singer's romantic partner Matt McDermott, bassist Spencer Zahn, and percussionist Mauro Refosco (David Byrne, Atoms for Peace). The Illinois progressive-folk singer-songwriter Ryley Walker plays guitar on "Life Is."
• So where did the idea of Pitch come from? "With the title, I wasn't really drawing on the conceptual side of the record, I was trying to be intuitive about it," Pratt told Uncut. "But it actually came from a poem I wrote that was related to some of the Liverpool content on the record. I like when titles feel somewhat ominous. And for me it's struck that kind of territory – the idea of elementary shifting and this very ancient substance that comes from the Earth."