We are fast approaching yet another 3-day weekend and I for one can not wait. As you are out gathering all the goodies needed for your Fourth of July cookout or all the Black Cats and roman candles you can legally purchase, be sure to have your playlist ready for the adventure. A great summer playlist is just as essential as SPF 100 sunscreen so remember to protect your ears and skin.
Faye Webster I Know I’m Funny haha
Atlanta based singer-songwriter follows up her critically acclaimed 2019 album Atlanta Millionaires Club with her most honest and intimate album to date. I Know I’m Funny haha finds the singer able to sing about being happy without any irony in her voice while the self-deprecating she has become known for is spread throughout the record.
Webster, a longtime Atlanta Braves fans, fantasizes about 2018 MLB Rookie of the Year Ronald Acuna Jr. on “A Dream with a Baseball Player” and asks, “How did I fall in love with someone I don’t know?” on the song. The self-proclaimed yo-yo enthusiast is the happiest she’s been in her career as she is in a new relationship that resonates on the album but there are still some of her trademark sad songs on, I Know I’m Funny haha that were written before love came knocking.
On the opening verse to “Both All the Time,” she sings “There’s a difference between lonely and lonesome, but I’m both all the time” given the sign that she’s too scared to take the first step in fear of rejection rather opting to stay in her comfort zone.
The albums opening track “Better Distractions” was one of Barack Obama’s favorite songs of 2020 and finds Webster singing about a relationship that has ended but is not ready capable of letting go and moving on.
I Know I’m Funny haha is an album that follows the ups-and-downs and the in-and-outs of a relationship from the end of one relationship to the beginning of an another and even meeting the parents. @fayewebsters
Anthony Ramos Love and Lies
There are not many people hotter than Anthony Ramos right now. In just the last few years, the Hamilton alum released his debut album The Good & the Bad in 2019, starred in the critically acclaimed movie adaptation of In the Heights this year, got engaged to his Hamilton co-star Jasmine Cephas Jones aka Peggy Schuyler, and is now filming the next installment in the Transformers franchise for which the 29 year-old New Yorker was made to get his drivers license for the first time in his life.
This week, he adds his second album to his growing list of accomplishments. Ramos’ sophomore release Love and Lies is a departure from his debut as he embraces numerous sounds on the new album. While The Good & the Bad was a straight up R&B album, Love and Lies dives into numerous genres. The songs on the album range from pop to electronic to afrobeat.
Current favorite “Control” is about giving up all control and being completely submissive to your partner while setting your pride to the side and following their command. Lead single “Say Less” is about that one person that most of us has had in our life at one point where the time is never quite right to be together. You know you have a strong connection with them, but one of you is never in town. Despite the setbacks, you both understand that every time you see each other, the chemistry is undeniable and you just enjoy and live in the moment. @ARamosofficial
Please check out some of the other amazing records out this week…
- Doja Cat Planet Her
- Tyler, the Creator Call Me If You Get Lost
- The Marias Cinema
- Juicy J The Hustler Still Continues
- Lucy Dacus Home Video
- Sault Nine
- Pom Pom Squad Death of a Cheerleader
Steven McCash is the Music Columnist for SoBros Network, and host of the ‘Drinking With…’ podcast. He is the pioneer of New Music Friday, highlighting each week’s new releases in the world of music, in addition to the occasional live show review. Follow on Twitter: @MC_Cash75
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