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Mar 31, 2020 By Christopher Roberts Jess Williamson

Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter Jess Williamson is releasing a new album, Sorceress, on May 15 via Mexican Summer. Now she has shared another song from it, “Infinite Scroll,” via a video for the track. In the video she plays a runaway bride, but then there’s a sci-fi twist. Watch the Jim Larson-directed video below, followed by her upcoming tour dates.

Williamson had this to say about the video in a press release: “We shot this video in early February, when the coronavirus was a distant murmur and not an immediate threat here in the U.S. It was lurking in the ether though, and of course on some level we were aware of it, but we couldn’t have imagined at the time where we’d all be today. But something was clearly tapping on our subconscious minds, because we made a video about running away from this world and escaping to another planet. Which sounds like a pretty nice option at the moment.

“Jim and I came up with this idea of a runaway bride with an extraterrestrial twist. The dress I’m wearing is my mom’s wedding dress. She bought it in 1979 off the rack at Neiman Marcus in Dallas. The veil is hers as well. Her mom sewed every pearl onto it by hand. It felt really special to wear that dress, almost holy. The first time I put it on it was surprisingly emotional for me. Jim and I are both drawn to the landscape of the Southwest, and we were talking about the musician Jim Sullivan’s mysterious story, how he disappeared in the desert in New Mexico. I’ve spent a lot of time in New Mexico, it’s a place that’s near and dear to my heart. It felt right to make the video out there.”

Previously Williamson shared the album’s first single, “Wind on Tin,” via a video for the track. “Wind on Tin” was one of our Songs of the Week.

Sorceress is the follow-up to 2018’s Cosmic Wink, also released by Mexican Summer. The album was written in Los Angeles and was mainly recorded at Gary’s Electric in Brooklyn. The finishing touches were put on Sorceress at Dandysounds, a home studio on a ranch in Dripping Springs, Texas, where Williamson recorded Cosmic Wink.

A previous press release described Sorceress in more detail: “Offering a deep-hued kaleidoscope of dusty ’70s cinema, ’90s country music, and breezy West Coast psychedelia, Sorceress weaves a woman’s wild love letters to a confusing present and uncertain future—with reflections on femininity and the pursuit of perfection, New Age beliefs and practices, critiques of capitalism and social media, southern and western landscapes, and intimate details of the lives and deaths of loved ones and friends. It’s a record about loss of innocence and acquired wisdom that’s self-critical, self-assured, and soul-searching. The Texan singer and songwriter makes deeply felt songs that orbit around her powerful voice, a voice that’s strong and vulnerable, big-room flawless, quietly ecstatic, and next-to-you intimate.”

Jess Williamson Tour Dates:

Sun. May. 31 - San Diego, CA @ Casbah
Tue. June. 2 - Los Angeles, CA @ Bootleg Bar
Wed. June. 3 - San Francisco, CA @ Cafe du Nord
Fri. June. 5 - Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall
Sat. June. 6 - Seattle, WA @ Clock Out Lounge
Wed. June. 10 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St Entry
Thu. June. 11 - Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village
Sat. June .13 - Toronto, ON @ The Drake
Sun. June. 14 - Montreal, QC @ Esco
Tue. June. 16 - Boston, MA @ Great Scott
Thu. June. 18 - Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
Fri. June. 19 - Brooklyn, NY @ Union Pool
Sat. June. 20 - Washington, DC @ DC9
Mon. June. 22 - Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
Thu. June. 25 - Dallas, TX @ Ruins
Fri. June. 26 - Austin, TX @ Mohawk Inside
Sat. June. 27 - San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger
Mon. June 29 - Tucson, AZ @ Exo

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