<p><span><span>- Two years on from her breakthrough sophomore effort, <em>Atlanta Millionaires Club</em>, American singer-songwriter Faye Webster’s third album is her longest to date. Titled <em>I Know I’m Funny haha, </em>in reference to her self-assured demeanor, the <em>haha </em>thrown at the end is both a sly wink to her playful side, but also a question - a glance into the world of a songwriter giving herself permission to doubt, worry and wonder.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Punctuated throughout by the bright, twangy guitars of country greats, these sounds flood the record with an ironic sentiment. Not that Faye Webster isn’t applying these quirks with seriousness, rather she embraces the camp and cartoonish quality they bring. <em>In a Good Way</em>, released as a single back in 2019, finds its way onto the record’s midpoint, a bluesy cut that lets Faye smile at an enveloping relationship. “<em>I didn’t know that I was capable of being happy right now but you showed me how / I didn’t know that you were right in front of me until I looked out,</em>” she sings with a twist in her voice. Faye hiccups at moments in the song, almost choking up at her good fortune, unable to explain away the happiness she’s feeling. </span></span></p>
<p><span><span>In <em>Both All the Time</em>’ she expresses the opposite, “<em>I’m loneliest at nights after my shower beer / And I’ll go to sleep without turning out the lights, pretend like someone’s here.</em>” Finding duality between these tracks, Faye embraces the heightened emotional turbulence of a year in lockdown. Ballads about love and loss, inner turmoil and resilient, confusing strength, defy linear structure in the album, as Faye grounds <em>I Know I’m Funny haha </em>in emotional logic.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span><em>Cheers</em>, a defiantly upbeat moment in the record kicks off with pulsing electric guitar and drums. As the chorus explodes, an array of percussive sounds clash melodically to form a euphoric chorus. It’s a twist in the record that sees Faye fully realised as a talent, one that’s hard to compare. Many might see the poppier elements of the record as a parallel to <strong>Kacey Musgraves</strong>, <strong>Waxahatchee</strong> or <strong>Phoebe Bridgers</strong>, but there’s a stark dryness and elevated humour that pushes the album in a different direction. In a way that feels connected to her hometown Atlanta -which served as inspiration for her previous album- Faye Webster’s hybrid of genres strikes me like a tide rolling in: her folk-pop-rock is a meeting of the city and the country and it isn’t an easy one. In <em>A Stranger</em> this complication is especially clear. Faye muses on her contradictory behaviour, “<em>Tell me, why am I sad? When you’re somewhere I don’t want to go, even though you invited me and I still said no.</em>” Thinking of herself as ‘A Stranger’, her behaviour has her confused and isolated.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>As she spends the record searching for purpose and her own desires, Faye Webster looks to her surroundings. <em>Better Distractions</em>, the album’s opener, was released in 2020, early in the pandemic, a song that would become an eerily accurate reflection on the forthcoming year. It now serves as a gorgeous prologue and homage to Faye’s world; Atlanta and beyond.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>- Sean Tayler.</span></span></p>
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3999595157/size=large/bgcol=f…; seamless><a href="https://fayewebster.bandcamp.com/album/i-know-im-funny-haha">I Know I'm Funny haha by Faye Webster</a></iframe>