A Mile South of Heaven is the album Jess Williamson was destined to make.

The Texas native, who grew up in Dallas and now splits her time between Los Angeles and Marfa,  has long experimented with country and western sounds.  Historically, Williamson has refracted the genre’s alluring melodies, sonic rusticity and plainspoken poetry through mystical and alt-pop prisms, as heard on her critically-acclaimed solo albums Time Ain’t Accidental (2023) and Sorceress (2020). She further expanded  that  creative vision  with Plains’ I Walked With You a Ways (2022). It was the stark, understated beauty of her previous album that led NPR to wonder “is there anything more tender and mournful than the way Williamson sings?” Pitchfork praised her “teardrop voice and audacious candor,” noting that she imagines “Lana by way of Lucinda while sounding Texas to the bone.” Now, A Mile South of Heaven is her most twang-forward solo album to date, bringing largely traditional music to the center of the frame without sacrificing the mysticism, emotional depth and indie sensibility that have long defined her work.

With A Mile South of Heaven, Williamson reaches a new artistic peak as both a songwriter and singer. The songs draw from the emotional directness of Lucinda Williams, the character-driven storytelling of Guy Clark and the deep introspection of Leonard Cohen, while her voice recalls the earthen timbre of Emmylou Harris.