Faye Webster released her fifth studio album and her first album in five years, Underdressed at the Symphony, on March 1, 2024. With this record, Webster has taken playful self-awareness to new heights by embracing acoustic melodies and simply getting lost in the music.
In Underdressed at the Symphony, Webster is not trying to impress anyone other than herself. Since her debut album, Run and Tell released in 2013, Webster has grown and matured as a songwriter, becoming more comfortable on each record to truly be her quirky, unapologetic self.
The album opens with Thinking About You, a simple tune in which Webster meditates on the refrain, “I’m thinking about you.” Listeners will immediately recognize Webster’s familiar dreamy vocals, but her message deviates from the nonchalance of her past writing. Right away, Webster makes it clear that this record will explore romance and heartbreak deeper than she ever has before.
Webster opens up even more on the second track and first single, But Not Kiss. This song is incredibly funny yet deeply somber. Webster cleverly repeats a mechanism where she sings a drawn-out phrase about being in love, then refutes it in the last beat. She sings, “I want to sleep in your arms, but not kiss / I long for your touch, but don’t miss,” expressing a longing for someone, but also a hesitation about intimacy. The themes of this song resemble In a Good Way, the top single on her last album, I Know I’m Funny haha. On that song she sings, “You make me wanna cry in a good way,” a line steeped in bittersweet heartbreak. Still, But Not Kiss is more honest and raw than any other heartbreak song Webster has written.
This combination of irony and sorrow appears throughout the album. On some songs, like Lego Ring, Webster leans into her funny, lighthearted side. Webster collaborated on this track with her childhood friend, Miles Parks McCollum, known professionally as Lil Yachty. She sings, “I want a lego ring / I want it to hurt my finger,” letting us know that she isn’t looking for anything serious. The song is not only a continuation of the album’s themes, but also a celebration of Webster and McCollum’s friendship. In the last verse, McCollum raps, “Me and you the dream team / Always together like string beans.” Throughout the song, Webster reveals a lot about herself while still having fun with the music.
The album also contains moments of deep sadness. The title track, Underdressed at the Symphony, is perhaps the most raw and honest song on the record. Beginning with the line “I’m deprivin’ myself of happiness,” Underdressed at the Symphony is a reflection on how Webster copes with pain and sorrow.
Webster likes to keep her private and her professional lives separate. While revealing more on this album, she is still concealing a lot. She also uses musical techniques to shield herself on the album, like singing through a vocoder. On He Loves Me Yeah! Wilco’s Nels Cline lends his masterful guitar playing to further enhance the melodies. The jazzy, feel-good music often speaks louder than Webster’s playful lyrics, ensuring listeners that everything is alright.
Above everything else, Webster is trying to bring us into her world on this album. If she can show up to the Symphony in a hoodie in sweatpants, then so can we, but we don’t have to. With rich arrangements and soft vocals, Webster has brought the music to us, and Underdressed at the Symphony is perhaps her most accessible, cohesive album yet.