As Pitchfork’s preeminent voice on music’s radical edges, Jenn Pelly specializes in artists who challenge cultural hierarchies. Her work intersects three key areas:
Recent accolades include her 2025 Granta recognition and groundbreaking work on Numero Group’s box sets. She currently splits time between Pitchfork essays and liner notes that redefine archival practice.
We’ve followed Jenn Pelly’s work as it reshapes how we understand music’s intersection with culture, feminism, and literary tradition. A contributing editor at Pitchfork since 2015, Pelly has become synonymous with deeply researched narratives that bridge punk’s DIY ethos with high-art criticism.
Pelly prioritizes artists who engage with cultural archives. Her Kleenex book review for The Baffler demonstrates how she connects 1970s Swiss punk to contemporary labor movements. Successful pitches should mirror this approach – e.g., “New Queercore Band Reviving Mimeograph Zine Tactics.”
Her Gillian Welch analysis for NPR paired Appalachian folk traditions with Flannery O’Connor’s Southern Gothic. Pitch artists who bridge mediums: “Electronic Producer Scoring Unpublished Sonia Sanchez Poems.”
Pelly’s refusal to cover Olivia Rodrigo’s stadium tour (despite shadowing the Breeders’ opener slot) reveals her aversion to commercialism. Focus instead on artists using unorthodox distribution models.
The Raincoats book and Kathleen Hanna interview showcase her interest in care ethics. Pitch stories about mutual aid initiatives in music scenes.
Her liner notes for Margo Guryan’s box set blended oral history with spectral analysis of 1960s tape hiss. Consider pitching: “Interactive Essay Mapping Pauline Oliveros’ Deep Listening Sites.”
“Pelly writes like someone trying to save music criticism from itself.” – The Baffler
At PressContact, we aim to help you discover the most relevant journalists for your PR efforts. If you're looking to pitch to more journalists who write on Music, here are some other real estate journalist profiles you may find relevant: