More about: Jess Williamson

“I’m no sorceress” Jess Williamson insists on her peaceful and almost hypnotic new studio album of the same name. It’s a record that is equal parts empowering and incredibly calming all while containing beautiful lyrical content, making for an extremely easy-going yet rewarding listening experience. 

Williamson is clearly an immensely talented singer whose voice is quite unique. It is uplifting and cheery while also managing to carry heavy emotion where it’s necessary. In fact, it’s her voice that starts the record off with a bang on the track ‘Smoke’. “We like staying home, we like runnin’ around,” Williamson sings peacefully as a soothing acoustic guitar starts to pick up, ultimately forming a terrific instrumental that gives off a lovely summertime aesthetic. 

The same thing can really be said about the record as a whole. It’s a constantly moving, fast-paced summer album with instrumentals that will soothe you and take you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions, particularly with the title track where Williamson opens up about who she is and what defines her, in what is quite possibly her greatest track to date. Then, from there we move into ‘As The Birds Are’, a quiet yet emotional song with a real outdoorsy type sound. Williamson makes the interesting choice to include lots of birds chirping softly in the background of this record, which could have overstayed its welcome, but thankfully it never does. 

However, with this album being so relaxing and easy-breezy to listen to a large majority of the songs start to sound slightly similar. But with that being said, what Williamson is saying here is that you should be proud of yourself and who you are, and with a message like that accompanied with the lovely vocals and production, it’s hard to complain. 

Sorceress is released on 15 May 2020 via Mexican Summer. 

More about: Jess Williamson