Jamie Lin Wilson Highlights Toxic Relationships in “Run” (premiere)

Jamie Lin Wilson has always carried a particular wit about her songwriting. Straight-shooting but never shallow, Wilson inhabits a particular cross-section of Americana that blends honest-to-goodness country with storyteller’s folk. It’s a line that few artists have been able to ride for as long and as balanced as Wilson has, but those that have are icons—John Prine, Guy Clark, Emmylou Harris. The songs of which her new album, Jumping Over Rocks, is comprised are fine evidence of that artful, personable finesse. This is to say that more than she can so soulfully croon or front a band so strongly, Wilson is a conversationalist, and tunes like “Run” feel like an honest-to-goodness and totally honest living room chat, individual-to-individual.

Wilson is sharing her new single, “Run”, with PopMatters today ahead of the release of Jumping Over Rocks. Immediately captivating with its opening hooks, it pulls listeners in with Wilson’s whiskey warm vocals. Ultimately, it’s the all-too-relatable message at the song’s lyrical core that will keep Wilson’s audience around, especially with as poignantly as she and the band can convey it through an impressive and varied musical delivery. A blend of guitar, drums, and keys all take the spotlight at one point or another, all helping to drive this anthem home.

Regarding “Run”, Wilson tells PopMatters, “I started this song while thinking about what to tell a friend who was struggling with her marriage. They didn’t treat each other well – almost toxic. I always try to advise working it out, but I just couldn’t. But I also didn’t know how to say the things to her that I really wanted to get out. So, late one night I sat down with my guitar, and this song started. I still couldn’t tell her, because I didn’t feel like it was my place. Life is hard, and some people just don’t work together, but those are both things folks have to figure out for themselves, I guess.”

Jumping Over Rocks is set to release on 26 October. It is available to pre-order via Big Cartel.