Sometimes Breaking More Waves features new artists that are so new that they have barely a half-formed demo to their name and less than 10 plays on Soundcloud. At other times these introducing pieces bring artists that have already put out quite a few songs, or in the case of Faye Webster a whole album. So, there’s plenty to dive into here.
Much of what I have read about Webster makes her out to be some sort of country and hip-hop hybrid. If that’s the case I don’t hear it at all. The country sound for sure, that’s loud and clear, or rather, I should say gentle and clear; but the hip-hop label seems badly misplaced. Maybe it’s because she’s friends with rapper / producer Ethereal or that her eponymous album has been released by Awful Records, a label associated with hip-hop, so there’s a connection. But I begin to wonder if the likes of Billboard, who said that “she flexes her hip-hop folk style” have even bothered listening to her record before writing about her?
For me, Faye Webster’s sound is deliciously languid country pop. Her song Alone Again could easily form the soundtrack to every sad alt-indie-emo romance movie made for Netflix. Her album is the sound of nearly forgotten 70’s summer glories, sweet vocals, road trips, intimacy, chasing dandelion seeds in the wind, slide guitars, soft drums, and nestling back in an open porch with a glass of red wine. There are hints of other styles and genres; indie, ghostly folk, subtle pop and old fashioned radio friendly soft rock perhaps, but the basis of her sound never really touches hip-hop. It would be like saying that Foo Fighters had an element of techno and rave to their music. She’s very much more straight out of Nashville than Compton.
Fans of Julia Jacklin and Caitlin Rose will no doubt find a lot to appreciate here, and the comparison with Jacklin seems particularly relevant as Webster will be out on the road with the Australian one this November. You can find her album on all the usual services right now. Grab that glass of wine and sit back whilst listening.
Faye Webster - She Won't Go Away
Faye Webster - Alone Again (Video)
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