The Best of New Music Friday:
Faye Webster – Underdressed at the Symphony
It’s hard to pinpoint when Faye Webster hopped off the tall bike and exchanged it for a yo-yo. It’s harder to find when she promoted herself from small clubs with plastic decals on her stage and instead sold out big venues with crazy lighting, gifting a fuller sound to more fans than ever.
It’s easier to see that Webster hasn’t steered away from her true self. In a world where girls are boxed into either writing six-minute power ballads about their romantic thoughts or singing about what toy/collector’s items they find beautiful, Webster has always chosen both. She’s done it since her S/T Secretly Canadian Debut and she’s doing it again on her latest album Underdressed at the Symphony.
Webster starts with the track “Thinking About You,” her most complete love song and most polarizing opener (not because of length, but because of how dynamic it is). Just a few songs later, Lil Yachty joins her to talk about how sick Lego rings are, and what a sweet gesture they can be.
Many might find “Feeling Good Today” super cute. This auto-tuned song about spending dumb money after payday, and whatever realities all the gnarly 20-somethings do every other Friday is a cool transition. If Webster would have interludes, it makes sense that they’re something to laugh at but then reconcile with a thought of “oh yeah, I’ve done that…oh…haha.”
Each song on Underdressed at the Symphony comes with its own vibe. “Lifetime” is a classic Webster tune. Booming deep piano tones are drudged along with Webster’s wispy voice and a few bass lines, higher keys, twangy guitars and slide pedals. It’s followed by “He Loves Me Yeah!,” which is the first time Webster takes on a fast-paced song with distorted vocals, maneuvering a complete 180. Wilco’s Nels Cline also lends his guitar to this one.
Webster brings a lot of sweet thoughts to her music. As most people enter the early stresses of adulthood, they might become a little rougher around the edges. Webster seems to always write about the little thrills of life and love. “You should see my eBay search history,” she sings while flutes and whimsical chimes ring, implying there are probably pogs or giblets for her Crocs. “Close my eyes and I can smell my old apartment,” another oddly relatable stanza states.
Near the end of this record, Webster hops back to the serious side. The title track features the strings she introduced on 2022’s Car Therapy Sessions EP. Her voice takes over too, so listeners don’t forget that she can sing better than a lot of artists, with her unique Atlanta charm to it.
But Webster gets punchy too. Underdressed at the Symphony closes with “Tttttime,” which isn’t pronounced “t(hiiiiii)ime, it’s “t-t-t-t-t-t-t-ime,” with a flute crossing each “t-t-t-t-t-t-t.” Punctuality is the name of the game here, and Webster is peacing out after a 37-minute lesson on crushing pop record production.
There are plenty of people who believe you can’t have two incompatible things in life. They’d say you cannot have pearls and a Lego ring. That’s too bad for those thinkers, because Webster is always encouraging others to match seriousness with silliness, and it’s a lot better than whatever one-dimensional reality those folks are living in. This isn’t Atlanta Millionaire’s Club era Webster, but she’s choosing to have her cake, errr, chocolate coins, and she’s eating them too.
New Music Friday Top Picks:
Been Stellar – “Passing Judgement”
Everything Everything – “Enter the Mirror“
Mannequin Pussy – I Got Heaven
Mdou Moctar – “Funeral for Justice”
Miley Cyrus and Pharrell Williams – “Doctor (Work It Out)“
Olly Alexander – “Dizzy“
Yard Act – Where’s My Utopia?
Which of these tracks from New Music Friday will you be adding to your favorite playlists today? Any we missed? Let us know in the comments or on Instagram!
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