“a stylish blend of country, pop, electronic, and celestial folk” – No Depression
The core images of Jess Williamson’s new album Time Ain’t Accidental revel in the earthly and the carnal. The album reckons with loss, isolation, romance, and personal reclamation, signaling a tectonic shift for Williamson as a person and as an artist. She created the album from a protracted breakup with a romantic partner and longtime musical collaborator.
Time Ain’t Accidental evokes iconic Western landscapes, tear-in-beer anthems, and a wholly modern take on country music. Moreover, it’s a daringly personal but inevitable evolution for the Texas-born, Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Above everything, sonically and thematically, it showcases Williamson’s voice, crystalline and acrobatic in its range, standing front and center. Think Linda Ronstadt turned minimalist, The Chicks gone indie or even Emmylou Harris’ work with Daniel Lanois. Thus, it’s the sound of a woman running into her life and art head-on, ringing boldly and unobscured. Here, the songs and sounds are unambiguous, on her own terms for the first time.
Williamson now splits her time between Marfa, Texas and Los Angeles. Time Ain’t Accidental unequivocally embodies the energy of the two very different places that she calls home. She also does this with the synthesis of traditional country instrumentation with digital effects and modern sounds. Williamson explains “that supernatural forces are acting all around us, that we can trust that we will be in the right place at the right time.”
Time Ain’t Accidental stands out for its bare confidence born of searching and longing for something real. Williamson also recognizes the mysterious whims of time that bricked her path and memorializes them in the title track. Ultimately, these unseen forces lured her back into her own. The timing was, indeed, no accident.
Recommended for fans of Waxahatchee, Jenny Lewis, Lucinda Williams and Big Thief.
LEARN MORE: https://www.jesswilliamson.com/
