Plains, the new collaborative project featuring Katie Crutchfield (Waxahatchee) and Jess Williamson, released the single “Abilene” along with a video for the track directed by Corbett Jones and Nick Simonite. “Abilene” appears on the debut Plains album, I Walked With You A Ways, which arrives via ANTI- on October 14.
The “one time only collaboration” includes both the album and a North American tour spanning October 21 through November 19. Crutchfield and Williamson tapped Brad Cook to collaborate on and produce I Walked With You A Ways. Plains recorded the 10-track LP in Durham, North Carolina with Spencer Tweedy and Phil Cook serving as their band. The pair previously released the album’s lead single, “Problem With It.”
Crutchfield shared the following in regards to “Abilene”:
“The song ‘Abilene’ really solidified the vision of the album for me. I’ll never forget how giddy I felt when Jess sent me the original demo. In a very stereotypical-of-a-songwriter way, Jess felt unsure if it fit or made sense & I reassured her immediately that this was probably my favorite song of the bunch. She achieved something really special in my view, which is writing a classic country waltz that feels extremely modern.”
Williamson added more on the second I Walked With You A Ways single:
“In the video for ‘Abilene,’ my dear friend Adriene Mishler plays the narrator of the song. We see her struggle in the final stages of a romantic relationship and then make the hard decision to choose herself and leave. I think we all have our own personal ‘Abilene.’ Maybe it’s a place where you used to live and things didn’t turn out as planned, like in the song. It could also be a relationship that ended in disappointment, or a dream that turned into a hard reality, or even an old version of yourself that’s better left in the past. ‘Abilene’ is a song about knowing your worth, having courage in the face of an uncertain future, and trusting your gut.”
Watch Plains’ “Abilene” video below:
