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May 23, 2023 By Mark Redfern Photography by Jackie Lee Young

Texas-born/Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter Jess Williamson is releasing a new album, Time Ain’t Accidental, on June 9 via Mexican Summer. Now she has shared its third single, title track “Time Ain’t Accidental,” via a music video. Rocco Rivetti directed the video. Watch it below, followed by Williamson’s upcoming tour dates.

Williamson had this to say about the new single in a press release: “​The lyrics ​to ‘Time Ain’t Accidental​’’ ​came pouring out of me because i​t’​s the true story of a very special day when I was falling in love with the person who is now my partner. The chorus references a Raymond Carver book of short stories I was reading at the time, and to me the song itself feels like a short story. For the video, we wanted to make the album cover come to life. ​We shot ​it in one take on Pinto Canyon Road outside of Marfa, Texas during a storm. That specific stretch of highway is really special to me, because when I was working on the record I would go on long walks down this empty road listening back to my mixes and working out the album sequence. When I’m out there alone I feel like the only person inside of a vast painting, it’s surreal, and I wanted to share that feeling with the world,.”

Previously Williamson shared Time Ain’t Accidental’s first single, “Hunter,” via a music video. “Hunter” was one of our Songs of the Week. Then she shared its second single, “Chasing Spirits,” via a music video. It was also one of our Songs of the Week.

Time Ain’t Accidental is the follow-up to 2020’s Sorceress, although last year Williamson teamed up with Waxahatchee (aka Katie Crutchfield) to form Plains and the duo released their debut album under that name, I Walked With You A Ways, via ANTI-.

The new album was partially inspired by a breakup at the start of the pandemic and her attempts at dating again after a long relationship. Williamson worked with Brad Cook (who’d produced the Plains album), recording in Durham, North Carolina. “I kept thinking, ‘My voice feels different now—it’s been liberated,” Williamson says of the recording sessions.

Read our 2021 interview with Williamson on Sorceress.

Jess Williamson Tour Dates:

5/23 - Brooklyn, NY @ Union Pool
5/24 - Brooklyn, NY @ Union Pool
5/26 - Woodstock, NY @ Levon Helm Studios
5/27 - Toronto, ON @ The Monarch Tavern
5/28 - Pittsburgh, PA @ WonderWorks Music & Arts Festival
5/30 - Indianapolis, IN @ Hi-Fi
5/31 - Chicago, IL @ Judson & Moore
6/1 - Chicago, IL @ Judson & Moore
6/2 - Spring Green, WI - Shitty Barn Sessions
6/3 - Minneapolis, MN @ Turf Club
6/5 - Milwaukee, WI @ The Back Room @ Colectivo
6/6 - Davenport, IA @ Raccoon Motel
6/8 - Dallas, TX @ The Sundown
6/9 - Austin, TX - Continental Club
6/10 - Austin, TX - Continental Club
6/17 - Los Angeles, CA - Zebulon

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