jess williamson

Other than a vague idea of how her debut album sounded like, we knew almost nothing about Jess Williamson the moment we walked into the dark backroom of a Nijmegen venue to listen to her songs. Or at least try to, as the audience seemed to be more interested in catching up with their buddies before Kevin Morby took the stage. That being said, our most vivid image of that night is staring at the stage as Williamson played the broodingly gorgeous “Heart Song” off her forthcoming album. We had to go up and tell her we could get her to play a few shows back in Portugal. That never happened, but 100% of her future albums ended up being featured here. Of course they were. “Sorcerer” is the latest instalment in a perfect streak of stellar records. It’s out now.

Plus: new tracks by Josiah Johnson, Tommy Alexander, Sumbuck, The Jayhawks, Rose City Band, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Chris Maier, Owen, Silverbacks, Crack Cloud, Hanni El Khatib, Khruangbin, SINEAD O’BRIEN, KATE NV, Jim White and Marisa Anderson music, neubauten.org, I Break Horses, Phoebe Bridgers, Nicole Atkins, Perfume Genius, LA PRIEST, Charli XCX, Happyness, and Lily Hayes.

#226: M. Ward, “Migration Stories”

We thought about not posting anything else for a day except John Prine tunes. But hey, there’s 1h43min of new tunes to listen to, and we’re not holding them hostage. This week, we focus on M. Ward’s tenth LP, Migration Stories. Which is, basically, more of the same. Fortunately for us, was there a time where “more of the same” from the American singer-songwriter meant anything other than good news?

Plus: new tracks by Lukas Nelson & Promise Of The Real, Loose Koozies, Western Centuries, Brent Cobb, Doug Tuttle, Alex Izenberg, TOPS, Irma Vep, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, No Age, Iceage, Yves Tumor, Psychic Ills, Orville Peck, Jess Williamson, Whitney Rose, Superwolf, Andrew Bird, Sharaya Summers, Laura Marling, Talitha Ferri, Basia Bulat, Logan Ledger, and Mavis Staples.