Jess Williamson – A Mile South of Heaven

Jess Williamson's A Mile South of Heaven finds the Texas-born, Los Angeles-based songwriter turning the pull between those two worlds into the heart of her sixth solo album. Produced by Shooter Jennings, it leans more openly into country than her recent work, with Williamson weighing homesickness, distance from family, and the uneasy glamour of life in LA. That tension gives the record a clear emotional focus rather than just a change of style.

Jennings proves a natural fit for her writing, bringing warmth, space and a deep-roots feel that suits songs built around Williamson's striking, front-and-centre voice. The album's twelve tracks draw on classic country and Laurel Canyon textures, with echoes of Linda Ronstadt and Waylon Jennings in the background, but the mood stays contemporary and personal. Tracks such as Goodbye to All That, Country Mile and Hum of the City point to an artist still interested in movement between places, scenes and versions of herself.