I Know I'm Funny Haha

Following the critical breakout success of 2019's Atlanta Millionaires Club, Faye Webster returns with I Know I'm Funny Haha, a pleasantly sighing collection of lovelorn ballads with almost enough heart to counterbalance the innate sense of irony that is her hallmark. Since debuting as a teenager and forging an unlikely bond with the Atlanta hip-hop label Awful Records, Webster has developed her own brand of smartly written, country-inflected indie pop, which is impeccably arranged here with willowy pedal steel and subtle stabs of brass and strings. Webster's reflections on love and relationships dial in on the everyday colloquialisms and simple emotions which, when not delivered with a wink, can be quite sweet. Over a breezy soft pop bed, album-opener "Better Distractions" effectively captures the preoccupied longing of time apart from the one you love, as does the sweeping countrypolitan of "A Stranger" with its mumbled, childlike asides and lush strings. There's a cotton-soft lounginess to many of the tracks, like the athlete-crush ode "A Dream with a Baseball Player" and the drowsy "Overslept," which features a nice left-field verse in Japanese courtesy of guest singer Mei Ehara. Although she does tone down the wit a few degrees, the album title alone serves as an indicator that Webster has no intention of playing it straight, even if her songs might be better served that way. At only 23 years old, she already has four albums to her credit and while her talent is obvious, a touch more vulnerability wouldn't hurt.