Texas troubadour-turned-California crooner Jess Williamson is a few weeks out from the release of Time Ain’t Accidental, her first album since last year’s ace team-up with Katie Crutchfield as Plains and her first solo effort since 2020’s Sorceress. Early singles “Hunter” and “Chasing Spirits” amped up my excitement for the record to an unhealthy level, and now that Williamson has shared Time Ain’t Accidental’s album-opening title track, my life might be in danger.

The impassioned twang, the sort-of electronic-country-jazz arrangement, the writing — this one’s working for me on all fronts. Since Williamson repeats it a few times, the line you are most likely to recall here is the Raymond Carver reference in the chorus. But don’t miss that bar at the end of the first verse about “the angel in bed with me, his face between my legs.” I guess she’s not singing about DJ Khaled!

Williamson’s statement on the song:

The lyrics to “Time Ain’t Accidental” came pouring out of me because it’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.

Below, watch the “Time Ain’t Accidental” video, created by Rocco Riveti and Gilles O’Kane.

Time Ain’t Accidental is out 6/9 on Mexican Summer.