Time Ain't Accidental - Jess Williamson: Review

Jess Williamson

is an LA-based singer-songwriter who blends the styles of folk and country into her sound. In 2020, she released her debut album on the label Mexican Summer, to which Time Ain't Accidental is a follow-up. In between, she formed the duo Plains with fellow indie folk artist Waxahatchee and the pair dropped their critically acclaimed debut album I Walked With You A Ways last year.

Review by Lav:

I was late to Jess Williamson I'll admit it. While I heard her 2020 album Sorceress, it didn't click with me in a way that made me want to dig into her earlier material. It's unfortunate because once I gave her collaborative album with Waxahatchee a chance last year I ended up liking it quite a bit and diving into her discography. I found that I appreciated some of her earlier music more and I was looking forward to what she had coming next. After a trio of singles that can go toe to toe with anything else I've heard this year I had extremely high hopes for the record. While it may not have lived up to the hype in that sense I still find it pretty enjoyable. 

Each of the singles on this record is a slam dunk and the album leads off with all three of them in a row. Time Ain't Accidental is a fantastic opener that always gets me. I love the chorus where Jess' vocals manage to flourish at just the right moments and I love the lyrical sentiment of having someone you clearly love and click with but you just miss the right moment to make it work. The song works to find beautiful moments in the margins of a situation like that.

Next up is Hunter the lead single with the absolutely perfect hook full of compelling lyrical imagery. I love the lyric "I want a mirror not a piece of glass" implying that a piece of glass is JUST that and not a mirror. She frames her love as being pure but also a hunter looking for someone who can match that purity back at her. Even though Chasing Spirits is my least favorite of the singles it's still a wonderful song. I love the lazy, wandering kind of psychedelic guitar riffs and the whole folky malaise of the song's slow pacing. It's yet another moment where Jess' vocals do all the right things.

While the deep cuts may not live up to that standard there are still some great highlights to be found. Something's In The Way expands the album's instrumental palette with all kinds of jazzier flavors than I ever expected to hear. The track has an exceedingly charming full-band feel even though the additions are generally somewhat minimal. I also think the track has some of the snappiest refrains on the record that have stuck with me a lot since I first heard it. I also like Tobacco Two Step, a classic country ballad that is clearly spiteful about an ex but far too polite to really show it. I love that the last lyric on the song is about how Jess is just too cool for it all and the rest of it is just an instrumental wandering out. 

The biggest strength of Time Ain't Accidental is by far its songwriting. While almost all the songs deal in love and relationships, normally ones that have ended or never started in the first place, almost every track is informed by a distinct narrative perspective. Stampede is a fascinating piece of songwriting about how an ex with self-destructive behavior might just be better left in the past. It somehow makes that sentiment feel kind of positive and focuses on holding up the good memories that you have together as the best version of yourselves. It's somber and very emotional but far from tragic. Closing track Roads is just as good lamenting "all the roads we didn't travel" while wrapping the whole track in varying pieces of naturalistic imagery. It's a great way to end the album off after all the stories of love lost Jess tells along the way. 

Though the record doesn't have any "duds" there are tracks that don't quite justify their presence. In particular, God In Everything and A Few Seasons which come back to back never really find ways to stand out from the rest of the songs here. While God does dabble in some divine metaphor, it feels mostly like an afterthought to the song itself. Topanga Two Step has a snappy little synthetic drum loop to it that certainly stands out on the album. I see the potential in it but unfortunately I think the chorus on the song just sort of falls short with the weird stretched out syllables sapping up the song's momentum.

My least favorite song on the record is I'd Come To Your Call whose emotional climax doesn't really translate with me. The title refrain is sung in this really dramatic and long-winder way that sounds anguished but ultimately it just kind of drags. Not only does the song sport some sort of warbly singing but it also relies on you meeting it most of the way with its lyrical metaphors.

This record might not have lived up to the expectations I had after three stellar singles, but those singles still made it onto the album alongside many other highlights. This album mainly serves as a platform for Jess to express some impressively involved emotions in song. The fact that many of the tracks here do such a good job fully developing their emotional portraits through the lyrics is extremely impressive. Jess Williamson isn't re-writing the book on this project but in her earnest writing and performance style she presents something entirely unique to her, and entirely worth hearing. 7.5/10 

For more folk check out my review of Susanne Sundfor's blomi