Atlanta Millionaires Club by Faye Webster
by Lana Fleischli
Whether or not you’ve listened to Faye Webster, you’ve likely heard the beginning of “Kingston,” “The day that I met you I started dreamin’...” It has been used on TikTok over 51.8K times, so I’d say it’s pretty recognizable. I had heard the song in passing for a while now as the album, Atlanta Millionaires Club, has been out for over three years. Honestly, I never really thought about it until a few months ago when I went to Primavera Sound with my friend and I wanted to check out Webster’s set. I remember how myself and the audience were entranced with her voice that was soft but commanded the festival. It was beautiful to watch.
About a month later, I went on a camping trip with my class for our “senior trip,” and on the way there, people were requesting songs. One girl asked for “Right Side My Neck” off of Atlanta Millionaires Club, and I was invested.
Webster’s music has the innate power to not be over the top and yet keep you wanting more– or at least that’s how I felt. I decided to finally actually listen to the album while driving through Coldwater Canyon and I felt as though the music moved with the winding roads– the ups and down. Webster reflects on the good parts of her relationship and the music is happy for a moment until she questions if “Jonny” ever even loved her. It’s like she’s just going back and forth in her mind and taking us for the ride—kind of like a drive through Coldwater Canyon.
The aspect of the album that stood out to me most was how Webster plays with genre. While to me, the album would be categorized as indie folk/pop, I honestly hate the idea of genre because it does just that– groups music by sound or category. I love music that seeks to defy genre. If you look up the genre of Atlanta Millionaires Club, Wikipedia will say that it is “Alternative country, Indie folk, Contemporary R&B, Folk-pop.” What a variety!
In the song “Flowers,” she is accompanied by rapper, Father. Instead of her music that generally is backed by keys, drums, etc, she is accompanied by a beat that is perfect for Father to jump on. It still fits perfectly within the album because she still has her soft tone and folksy quality, yet it is a different feel than the rest of the album.
Similarly the song “Right Side Of My Neck” is basically the opposite as it brings in a very country-esque feel right from the start. Also, the reprise of “Jonny” A.K.A “Jonny (reprise)” reminds me of something out of a musical. The idea of a “reprise” always makes me think of musical theater because there are often reprises or callbacks to tie the story together via song. Webster plays with the concepts and musicality of many different genres, and that really makes Atlanta Millionaires Club and Faye Webster as an artist stand out.