Faye Webster
★★★★ I Know I’m Funny Haha SECRETLY CANADIAN. CD/DL/LP
Atlantan country-soul prodigy’s exceptional fourth album.
SUPERFICIALLY, FAYE Webster shares a few key moves with the current hip crop of US singer-songwriters typified by Phoebe Bridgers: reflexive wit; confessional directness; musical understatement. Where Webster stands apart, though, is in how her music tends towards warm, muted country soul rather than indie folk. The impeccably droll I Know I’m Funny
Haha picks up very much where 2019’s equally fine Atlanta Millionaires Club left off. Unobtrusive organic beats and pedal steel track Webster’s moves, and her songs can initially seem featherlight. Don’t be fooled: the likes of Both All The Time and Better Distractions (one of Barack Obama’s favourites of 2020) are crafty, insidious creations, which gradually accrue substance and emotional heft even as they remain soothing on the ear. One to file alongside Natalie Prass’s 2015 debut, and to bear in mind when album of the year season comes around.