…easy to miss the signs, JESS WILLIAMSON Hunter
Jess Williamson Hunter [Time Ain’t Accidental LP] is available on Bandcamp, Deezer, Tidal, Mexican Summer
by Walter Price
Painting indelibly picturesque scenes and storylines conveyed through her naturally compelling voice, Jess Williamson has matured into a bonafide indie music superstar. Seemingly moments after the Wext Texas storyteller announced her forthcoming LP “Time Ain’t Accidental” [expected on 9 June 2023 via Mexican Summer], deservingly so, most of the top industry rags were quick to ballyhoo the news. And with an epic new single accompanying the announcement, Williamson’s star is about to ascend even further than the eye can see on those clear Texas desert night skies.
The single is called “Hunter” and it comes in what you could call three district chapters distinguished by their individual vibe. From a sparse sweetness to a mystical twilight kissed honky tonk jewel, the story of trust blowing in the wind is quite the journey. But for you visually minded, worry not, of course, there’s a brilliant music video as well. Williamson and pals on a secluded ranch getting loose and soaking up the mystical powers of the vast nighttime atmosphere. Replete with touches of psychedelia and dance, it’s fully enchanting like the track itself.
Speaking of the new album (and video), Williamson, on Facebook, has shared, “I made this album with visionary producer Brad Cook at his home studio in Durham, NC. Brad and I got to know each other through making the Plains record, so he had my complete trust when we worked together on this.
“Sonically, this record brings together everything that I love most. There is an evident sense of old meets new – classic folk instrumentation dances alongside modern pop elements. We worked with banjo and steel guitar, but we also included beats I programmed using an app on my iPhone. The recording process was intimate – it was mostly Brad, Phil Cook, Matt McCaughan, and me in a room together. I wish I could show you the whole album now, but with each single, I roll out leading up to the release, you’ll hear a different sonic side of the record.
“The first song, Hunter, is out now with an amazing and very fun music video made in West Texas by my dear friends Rocco Rivetti & Gilles O’Kane.”
In a world with Margo Price, Sharon Van Etten, Angel Olsen, and the like sharing their realities via song and enthralling music videos, Jess Williamson and her new single “Hunter”, the torch of authentic Americana storytelling are in good hands for the foreseeable future.
JESS WILLIAMSON Hunter
Artist photo by @jackieleeyoung // Quotes via Facebook and Mexican Summer
Time Ain’t Accidental
All songs written by Jess Williamson
Recorded at Puff City (Durham, NC)
Produced by Brad Cook
Engineered by Gerard “Jerry” Ordonez, Brad Cook, and Paul Voran
Mixed by Brad Cook and Paul Voran
Mastered by Heba Kadry (New York City, NY)
Cover photo by Samuel Walker
Inner photos by Jess Williamson
Cover photo retouching by Mike Krol
Layout by Alex Tults
Hunter (music video)
Directed by Rocco Rivetti
Cinematography by Gilles O’Kane
Made by Rocco and Gilles
Produced by Samuel Walker
Starring Hannah Delagi, Sage Keith, Emily Kolb, Jacqueline Del Olmo and Jess Williamson
Shot at Newberry Ranch, Alpine TX
website // facebook // instagram
“Endless prairies and ocean waves; long drives and highway expanse; dancing, smoke, sex, and physical desire – the core images of Jess Williamson’s new album Time Ain’t Accidental revel in the earthly and the carnal. After a protracted breakup with a romantic partner and longtime musical collaborator who left Williamson and their home in Los Angeles at the start of the pandemic, the album’s reckoning with loss, isolation, romance, and personal reclamation signals a tectonic shift for Williamson as a person and as an artist: from someone who once accommodated and made herself small to a woman emboldened by her power as an individual.” – bio (Mexican Summer)