Overdressed in Concord

Faye Webster

Overdressed in Concord

Secretly Canadian

March 05, 2024
Web Exclusive

By Michelle Dalarosa

It's been three years since singer/songwriter Faye Webster released her last album, 2021's critically acclaimed I know I'm funny haha, but in the meantime, the Atlanta native has been busy. Although her signature blend of twangy indie rock and countrified R&B kept her on the indie radar for years, it was during and after the pandemic that Webster and her music experienced a surprising rise to mainstream popularity thanks to the viral power of TikTok. On her latest album, Stripped in the AccordWebster expands her sonic palate while maintaining the same elements that captivated her current Internet following.

Existing fans will be happy to hear the same shimmering pedalboards and alt-country that have come to define the 26-year-old's catalog, but the album paints a clear picture of Webster's growth as an artist.

He plays with arrangements, seamlessly weaving jazz guitars around glockenspiel and vocoder on tracks like “Thinking About You” and “He Loves Me Yeah!” or introducing stabs of heavier orchestral sounds into “But Not Kiss” and “Underdressed at the Symphony”. He experiments with rhythm and space, indulging in extended, repetitive patterns that become the backdrop for subtle improvisations on “Lifetime” and introducing tempo switches on the unpredictable “Lego Ring” (featuring Lil Yachty, a longtime friend of Webster's).

This masterful balancing act between the familiar and the novel extends from the album's sonics to its themes. As a songwriter, Webster has made a name for herself with her ability to combine wry self-awareness and irony with moments of gentle longing and heartbreak, each naturally co-existing within the emotional space of her songs. We hear the same juxtaposition on this record, but Webster's self-awareness here is stronger than ever, offering a sense of self-acceptance that's exciting and revealing. It's evident not only in certain lyrical moments (“I wanna stop all the time… I think I'll figure it out”), but also in the progression of the album itself: it opens with the song “Thinking About You,” with Webster singing, ” I'm Sleep in the moment you're holding my head” and ends on the track “Tttttime”, opening with “I woke up of course…I'm lonely but what's new”.

After all, Overdressed in ConcordHis greatest achievement is the balance he achieves between opposing elements: the familiar and the novel, humor and heartache, dreams and reality. While Webster maintains her stylistic uniqueness, she doesn't sit on it. Instead, it expands beyond that, keeping it in tow as it explores different sounds and emotions. (www.fayewebster.com)

Author Rating: 7.5/10