#jess williamson

[geographreak]

i met Him there and told Him i believe

[itsallhoney]

Chasing Spirits | JESS WILLIAMSON

You've been chasing spirits And I'm still chasing them lights

[musicforants]

With temperatures dropping, colorful foliage and seasonal beverages coming back into season, it’s the perfect time for a mixtape of wistful, melancholy acoustic guitar-heavy sounds. So with no further ado, here's the 13th edition of the Autumn (Or What It Feels Like To Fall) mixtape. Click here to listen to this mix in its entirety via Spotify / Apple Music. Enjoy!

01. Sufjan Stevens - A Running Start 02. Sun June - Get Enough 03. Yo La Tengo - Aselestine 04. Mutual Benefit - Untying a Knot 05. Slaughter Beach, Dog - Engine 06. S. Carey - Steadfast (ft. Gordi) 07. boygenius - Cool About It 08. Andy Shauf - Halloween Store 09. Jess Williamson - Hunter 10. The National - Coat on a Hook 11. Allison Ponthier - Hardcore (Acoustic) 12. Great Lake Swimmers - Peacemaker 13. Courtney Barnett - Different Now (ft. Chastity Belt) 14. The Tallest Man On Earth - Slowly Rivers Turn 15. Blue Lake - Fur 16. Katy Kirby - Cubic Zirconia 17. The Clientele - Lady Grey 18. Kara Jackson - pawnshop 19. Youth Lagoon - Idaho Alien 20. Maybel - Long Road Ahead 21. Hiss Golden Messenger - My Old Friends 22. Madison Cunningham - Anywhere 23. Beirut - So Many Plans 24. Luz - not going anywhere 25. Wilco - A Bowl and A Pudding 26. Boundary Run - Stranger 27. Shannon Lay - From the Morning 28. Nick Mulvey - A Prayer of My Own 29. BEAR DOWN BEAR - Saturnalia 30. Lana Del Rey - Let The Light In (ft. Father John Misty)

Listen to this playlist on Spotify or Apple Music

[urban-troutfitters]

I saw Waxahatchee last night and openly wept because she kept singing Plains songs. They were so. GOOD.

[processusmonomaniak]

Jess Williamson

[soundgrammar]

Listen/purchase: Hurricane by Plains

[procrastinahman]

Baby I’ll come back to you

[jazznoisehere]

Jess Williamson: Time Ain't Accidental (Mexican Summer, 2023)

[whiteshipnightjar]

I love Jess Williamson and how much she loves Joanna Newsom. Greats recognize greats.

[groovesnjams]

23 / 50

"Hunter" by Jess Williamson

DV:

For a song about passion and "the real thing," "Hunter" is surprisingly reserved. Jess Williamson sings of being thrown to the wolves like she's indifferent to being a snack, of wanting a mirror like she needs to check there's nothing stuck in her teeth. But if I'm being generous I can admit that of course there are different kinds of intensity, including ones that don't sound like intensity to me at all, and if Williamson's needs are sublimated into lite pop Americana, that certainly doesn't make them less real - or less intense. Ultimately, "Hunter" isn't speaking to some generalized sense of intensity: Williamson's specifically searching for someone who matches her definition. And I can meet her at that concept - we all deserve someone who meets us where we are, who gives us what we need rather than what they think we do. Maybe love really should be like a mirror; Jess Williamson is more convincing than she sounds.

MG:

The good news is that if a song like "Hunter" is woefully insufficient then the pressure is off to communicate anything meaningful in summing up my thoughts about it. I was introduced to Jess Williamson last year by way of Plains, her project with Katie Crutchfield. I thought that record was fine but I like Time Ain't Accidental much better. I was surprised that Pitchfork felt puzzled by the line "honest as an ashtray" -- the ashtray is honest because it collects all the cigarette butts, it's dirty and utilitarian, like the truth, sometimes.

[dustedmagazine]

Jess Williamson — Time Ain’t Accidental (Mexican Summer)

Singer/songwriter Jess Williamson splits her time between Los Angeles and her native West Texas. Both cities feed the inspiration for her songs. Likewise, the production of the recording, done by veteran Brad Cook, who has also collaborated with Williamson on previous work, takes into account both her country background alongside an indie pop sensibility, exemplified by the discrete employment of winds and keyboards.

Williamson sang on the 2022 recording Plains, which was one of my favorites last year. While Plains’ harmony singing was central to the project and here Williamson doesn’t have another high voice with which to pair, there still is a supple sense of keening harmony. “Time Ain’t Accidental,” “God in Everything” and “A Few Seasons,” which feature overdubbed vocals, are welcome. Cook also occasionally sings background vocals. The title track has an elegant arrangement, with banjo and dobro, played by Phil Cook, and steel guitar, played by Deshawn Hickman, alongside Cook’s Wurlitzer and electric guitar. Elsewhere, saxophone and clarinet blend into the texture; emphasis on blend. Nothing overtakes Williamson’s singing and the basic keyboard and guitar accompanying elements.

The songs themselves are artful creations. Williamson has performed with a number of artists — Weyes Blood, José González, and Kevin Morby among them — and learned well from them. The country music vocabulary of the Austin scene, with its emphasis on simple chord progressions supporting the primary feature, singing, is always the spine of the music. Yet this gels seamlessly with the pop elements present.

The songs encompass lyrics that deal with love lost and love (possibly) found. “Topanga Two Step” is an example of the latter, with Williamson querying, “Is it a one time dream or a country queen that you take me for?” So many romantic songs today get from A to Z before the pre-chorus. Williamson has been hurt by bad relationships in the past. Previous recordings have discussed this openly. “Topanga Two Step” expresses a tentative vulnerability, a desire to take this new relationship slow, to avoid previous missteps. Similarly, the refrain of the title song (and the rest of its story) urges caution: “Look me in the eyes, it's all experimental, Torn up over timing, but timing ain’t accidental.” One hopes that her discretion is rewarded with a love that is well worth the wait.

Christian Carey

[itsallhoney]

Roads — Jess Williamson Live at the Doug Fir Lounge Portland, OR (August 26, 2023)