Four-time Grammy Award-winning singer Joy Williams has just announced the release date for her highly anticipated solo album Front Porch, set to be released on all platforms on May 3 under the Sensibility/Thirty Tigers label. Accompanying the announcement, Williams has also released a new track, named after the album.
The title track “Front Porch” explores William’s life as she moves back to Nashville after living in the Los Angeles area for some time. It focuses on her personal growth from living in L.A. to moving back to a town she can always call her original home. The song also touches on the transition to acoustic music after exploring pop on her 2015 record Venus.
The folk and pop singer wrote this song with the help of songwriters Liz Rose and Emily Shackelton, just after Rose urged Williams to create a song that embraces a front porch experience. Williams told Rolling Stone that “Liz asked me, ‘tell me you have a song called ‘Front Porch?’ When I told her no, she said, ‘how many times have you said this about the front porch, and no one has picked up writing a song called ‘Front Porch?” Fans of this track can definitely resonate with the message behind the song with the lyrics talking about taking some time for oneself to go back to the place they call home.
The forthcoming solo project was largely recorded in Nashville during the pregnancy of Williams’ second child. She mentions that “there is an energy that is very creative in having a baby. It gives a sense of urgency on top of all the creative energy.” The record was created with production from Kenneth Pattengale of The Milk Carton Kids and engineered by Matt Ross-Spring.
When asked about the inspiration behind the entire album, Williams addresses that just like the title track, the entire album focuses on this idea of coming home. “Whether to a physical place or to yourself. The lines on my face, I can see them more clearly now. But a lot of them are laugh lines. This record feels like breathing more deeply into who I am. Come what may.”
Previously, Front Porch released two other tracks “Canary” and “The Trouble With Wanting” during the last few moments of 2018. The album with also features plenty of collaborations from songwriters like Caitlyn Smith and Thad Cockrell. Williams is also set to headline her own tour in support of her new album and previous material starting in February, including stops in Denver, Toronto, New York City and her hometown city Nashville.
Check out for a full-album tracklist while listening to her new title track “Front Porch” below.
Front Porch Tracklist:
- Canary
- Front Porch
- When Does a Heart Move On
- All I Need
- The Trouble With Wanting
- No Place Like You
- One and Only
- When Creation Was Young
- Preacher’s Daughter
- Hotel St. Cecilia
- Be With You
- Look How Far We’ve Come