Pilgrim
Jesse Welles
Pilgrim is Jesse Welles's fourth full-length album of 2025, released on July 4th via his own imprint and produced by Eddie Spear, who has also worked with Zach Bryan, Margo Price, and Sierra Ferrell. Coming just months after Middle, the album represents a significant sonic expansion for Welles, who built his initial following almost entirely on solo acoustic videos posted to social media. Where his earlier material was deliberately spare — just voice, guitar, and harmonica recorded outdoors — Pilgrim introduces electric instrumentation, strings (cellist Nat Smith, fiddler Christian Ward, and violinist Nate Leath all contribute), and even touches of horns and banjo, fleshing out songs that already had raw acoustic counterparts circulating online. The album features two high-profile guest appearances: Sierra Ferrell joins Welles on the stripped-down duet "Far From Home," and Billy Strings appears on the upbeat, Woody Guthrie-flavored "Philanthropist," a pointed, ironic takedown of billionaire philanthropy.
Lyrically, Pilgrim stays in Welles's familiar territory of folk protest and social critique, drawing comparisons from reviewers to Todd Snider, Cat Stevens, Townes Van Zandt, and even Bob Dylan, with one YouTube reviewer calling him "the Bob Dylan of our generation." The eleven tracks range from the bluntly apocalyptic opener "We're All Gonna Die" to the metaphysically restless title track, the working-class fury of "Philanthropist," and the sweeping, communal closer "Wild Onions," which Rock the Body Electric describes as "a wide-ranging closer that sums up Welles." The album also includes "Will the Computer Love the Sunset," considered by some one of his finest songs, though the fuller production has divided listeners who prefer his rawer solo versions.
Pilgrim
Jesse Welles
Pilgrim is Jesse Welles's fourth full-length album of 2025, released on July 4th via his own imprint and produced by Eddie Spear, who has also worked with Zach Bryan, Margo Price, and Sierra Ferrell. Coming just months after Middle, the album represents a significant sonic expansion for Welles, who built his initial following almost entirely on solo acoustic videos posted to social media. Where his earlier material was deliberately spare — just voice, guitar, and harmonica recorded outdoors — Pilgrim introduces electric instrumentation, strings (cellist Nat Smith, fiddler Christian Ward, and violinist Nate Leath all contribute), and even touches of horns and banjo, fleshing out songs that already had raw acoustic counterparts circulating online. The album features two high-profile guest appearances: Sierra Ferrell joins Welles on the stripped-down duet "Far From Home," and Billy Strings appears on the upbeat, Woody Guthrie-flavored "Philanthropist," a pointed, ironic takedown of billionaire philanthropy.
Lyrically, Pilgrim stays in Welles's familiar territory of folk protest and social critique, drawing comparisons from reviewers to Todd Snider, Cat Stevens, Townes Van Zandt, and even Bob Dylan, with one YouTube reviewer calling him "the Bob Dylan of our generation." The eleven tracks range from the bluntly apocalyptic opener "We're All Gonna Die" to the metaphysically restless title track, the working-class fury of "Philanthropist," and the sweeping, communal closer "Wild Onions," which Rock the Body Electric describes as "a wide-ranging closer that sums up Welles." The album also includes "Will the Computer Love the Sunset," considered by some one of his finest songs, though the fuller production has divided listeners who prefer his rawer solo versions.