Jess Williamson

Singer and songwriter Jess Williamson is an artist whose music looks to the past for inspiration but is performed with an updated outlook and emotional range that gives it a thoroughly contemporary feel. Williamson's spare, evocative melodies and poetic, deeply personal lyrics are influenced by psychedelia and the songwriters' movement of the '70s, yet the breathy soprano voice and blend of acoustic and electric textures in her performances put her in step with her indie folk contemporaries. Williamson's music was at its simplest and most introspective on her 2014 debut album, Native State, while 2018's Cosmic Wink broadened her range with fuller arrangements and more adventurous production. 2020's Sorceress found her subtly incorporating elements of electronic music and vintage pop. Working with producer Brad Cook, she released both 2022's I Walked with You a Ways (a collaboration with Waxahatchee's Katie Crutchfield) and 2023's Time Ain't Accidental, her emotive fifth album.