Jess Kerber opens her debut album like someone cracking a window on a still, Southern night—quietly, but meaningfully. “Never Again” doesn’t beg for attention; it simply is, and that’s what makes it linger. Like watching fireflies from the backseat of a car, the track glows with a soft melancholy and the hush of something real.
Built on a mid-tempo waltz that ambles more than it strides, “Never Again” is a slow-burner that lets every sound breathe. There’s a pastoral weight to the strum of her guitar, the gentle steel that sighs in the background, and most of all, her voice—that friendly, bittersweet timbre that feels more like a memory than a performance. Jess writes in images, not just lines: a “place you’d feel safe,” remembered but unreachable, familiar yet irretrievable. It feels like a hug, sure, but the kind you hold on to a little longer because you’re not sure when the next one’s coming.
This is folk-pop done with grace: poetic but unpretentious, soft without disappearing. There’s a quiet confidence here, probably shaped by those years between Berklee’s ambition and Louisiana’s drawl. You can hear the musical literacy in the harmonies and the structure, but there’s no trace of showing off—just someone making sense of life’s bruises in a language they’ve carved out themselves.
The fact that this is the first track on her debut album is a bit wild. It sets the tone for “From Way Down Here” as something personal and precise, but never precious. It’s country in its bones, folk in its soul, and a little pop in its posture. And even in its sorrow, “Never Again” doesn’t push you away. It pulls you in like you’ve already known it for years.
About Jess Kerber:
Raised on the humid honesty of Louisiana and fine-tuned by the rigorous ears of Berklee College of Music, Jess Kerber sits somewhere between the classic and the contemporary. Her voice echoes the warmth of a friend telling you the truth gently, and her guitar work—thanks to those deep dives into alternate tunings and open-hearted writing—shapes a kind of melodic topography all her own. Teaming up with producer and fellow songwriter Will Orchard, she’s managed to stretch her folk foundations into something more textured and quietly ambitious, especially on her upcoming debut “From Way Down Here”.
Follow Jess Kerber: