The title of Faye Webster’s new album is inspired by her occasional compulsion to lose herself among concertgoers at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Craving company and distraction but also leaning into the anonymity of a crowd, Webster often bought a ticket to a performance at the last second. “Going to the symphony was almost like therapy for me,” she says. “I was quite literally underdressed at the symphony because I would just decide at the last moment that’s what I wanted to do.”
Webster has never been more comfortable in her own skin than right now, which makes her ascent into the vanguard of young, independent artists even sweeter. At any given moment, Webster might be making country-tinged indie rock flecked simultaneously by pedal steel guitar and modern R&B production – a bespoke sound which has won her ardent fans and turned her into something of a stealth superstar. The world around Webster may be moving faster and faster, but despite an influx of new fans, she’s still singing about it in an almost impossibly low-key way on her fifth album.
Recorded at Sonic Ranch Studios with her longtime band, Underdressed at the Symphony revels in experimentation and playfulness. Webster isn’t providing answers here, nor is she on a journey of healing and self-care. Instead, she’s choosing to just live, to document heartbreak and ridiculous moments right next to each other until they start to blur, becoming real enough for us all to feel.