Faye Webster – Underdressed at the Symphony (2024) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Faye Webster’s songs are direct lines to the human subconscious, and Underdressed at the Symphony documents what happens once you begin to build a new self from the ashes of your old routines. This rebirth isn’t flashy or definitive, but is instead a series of seemingly mundane moments that, scattered across weeks and months, sneak their way toward something like healing. Yes, there’s a breakup in play, but Webster is not documenting the heartbreak of a breakup so much as she’s navigating the contours of heartbreak itself. Recorded at Sonic Ranch Studios in Texas with her longtime band, Webster is accompanied on Underdressed at the Symphony by Matt Stoessel’s arcs of shimmering pedal steel, the plaintive, unhurried drums of Charles Garner, and, occasionally, additional guitarwork from Wilco’s Nels Cline. The title of the album refers to Webster’s post-breakup compulsion to visit the symphony on a whim, usually buying a ticket at the last possible second.

Atlantan singer-songwriter Faye Webster is no stranger to blending genres. Like its predecessors, this fifth studio album consistently mixes influences from indie-folk, indie-pop, and jazz, adding hints of R&B (“Feeling Good Today”), rockier sounds (“He Loves Me Yeah!”), and even string arrangements (“Underdressed at the Symphony,” “Lifetime”). The band—featuring Bryan Howard on bass, Charles Garner on drums, Nels Cline (Wilco) on guitar, and Matt Stoessel on pedal steel—undeniably deserves a shoutout. They steep the record in a country-style melancholia native to Webster’s southern American home. Everyone is riding the same wavelength, creating a relaxing yet subtly intricate sound with instruments that interweave conversationally, calling and responding to each other while Webster’s charming voice floats above everything. Its dreamy quality is emphasised by autotune in “Feeling Good Today” and “Lego Ring,” on which she is joined by fellow Atlantan and long-time friend Lil Yachty, who adds distorted harmonies and his own juvenilely humorous verse: “Me and you are the dream team/ Always together like string beans.

The album is peppered with surprises that keep it engaging, from tempo changes (“But Not Kiss,” “Lego Ring”) to interesting percussive accents (“Thinking About You,” “eBay Purchase History”) to word painting in the string crescendo that interrupts the title track. Underdressed at the Symphony was named after Faye Webster’s impromptu visits to symphony concerts as she dealt with a break-up. The juxtaposition aptly reflects the record’s understated and easy-going vibe, infused with a certain grandiosity and complexity led by the use of grand piano and coupled with the wistful wit that always permeates her confessional lyrics (“I’m depriving myself of happiness, something I’m really good at.”). At times, Underdressed drifts away into repetitive refrains, but provided they are not opposed to getting lost in the band’s lethargic lyricism—glossed in her ethereal vocals—Faye Webster fans will not be disappointed. – Ciara Rivers

Tracklist:
1-01. Faye Webster – Thinking About You (06:36)
1-02. Faye Webster – But Not Kiss (03:42)
1-03. Faye Webster – Wanna Quit All the Time (04:35)
1-04. Faye Webster – Lego Ring (02:43)
1-05. Faye Webster – Feeling Good Today (01:26)
1-06. Faye Webster – Lifetime (05:06)
1-07. Faye Webster – He Loves Me Yeah! (02:50)
1-08. Faye Webster – eBay Purchase History (03:44)
1-09. Faye Webster – Underdressed at the Symphony (03:33)
1-10. Faye Webster – Tttttime (02:30)

Download:

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