Jess Williamson Longs for the Open Road and Familiar Bars on Twang-Soaked New Single “Tracking the Tropics”

If you have ever felt your confidence shatter on a late-night drive and found yourself just wanting to pull up a stool at a familiar dive bar, Jess Williamson gets it.

The songwriter has just dropped “Tracking the Tropics” the latest preview of her upcoming sixth album, A Mile South of Heaven (landing October 9 via New West Records). Following up on the teaser “Goodbye to All That,” this one leans hard into the dreamy, pedal steel-soaked country-folk that makes everything she touches feel instantly timeless.

The Story Behind “Tracking the Tropics”

With a steady, driving rhythm and a warm canopy of guitars, “Tracking the Tropics” feels like the soundtrack to headlights cutting through an empty highway. But underneath the breezy instrumentation, the song is wrestling with a heavy dose of self-doubt.

Jess shared the real-life inspiration behind it, and it hits close to home:

“I was in a situation where my confidence had really taken a hit, and all I wanted to do was get in my car, drive as far away as I could, and be back at this one particular little honky-tonk bar in East Austin where I spent so many weekends with my friends throughout my twenties before I moved away (the bar is still there, shout out to The White Horse)… It’s a song about wanting to escape, and longing for a simpler time and for the people and places that make you feel truly known and accepted.”

That mix of a heavy heart and a need for escape runs through the whole track, balancing classic country storytelling with the atmospheric indie-folk edge we’ve come to expect from her.

Looking Ahead to A Mile South of Heaven

Produced by Shooter Jennings over at Sunset Sound in Hollywood, the new record was written between Los Angeles and Marfa, Texas. It’s shaping up to dig deep into the messy stuff—ambition, grief, shifting identities, and trying to figure out what success actually means.

As for the album title itself, Jess looks at the silver lining: “Depending on your outlook, a mile south of heaven may sound sad, or it may sound hopeful,” she says. “We’re always a mile south of the impossible goals we set for ourselves, and my point is, maybe that’s ok, because a mile is pretty close.”

Between her stellar solo records and her work with Plains, Williamson just keeps getting better at writing songs that feel like an old friend.

• Single: “Tracking the Tropics”

• Album: A Mile South of Heaven

• Release Date: October 9 via New West Records

• Watch: Keep an eye out for the Super 8 music video shot by Jackie Lee Young.