Collaboration soothes the soul and heart of an artist following up on a big project. Faye Webster has maintained tremendous course over a fruitful four-album period and finds the time to enlist the help of Lil Yachty. After a tremendous effort from the trap star turned progressive rock meddler last year, he is off out on a studio tour of collaborative performances. This piece with Faye Webster is just the shell of a boat looking ready to capsize with Yungblud set to form a piece which will terrorise your ears and the charts which held such glory decades ago. Lego Ring though has a catchy appeal to it – as was expected. What a way to mark Underdressed at the Symphony, Webster’s upcoming record, than a collaboration with one of the sharpest, most interesting musicians in his field.
Thumping basslines and a staggered, sudden bit of piano work bring out the indie rock charms Webster aims for. She has it in her sights and is keen to pull the trigger, though not before leaning toward a neo-psychedelia which benefits her voice. Slight flutters of manipulation and electronic aggravation come through, sounding off Lego Ring as a piece which benefits from the static flowing through underneath it. Yachty is on backing vocal duty and is disguised under this thick layer of manipulative intensity. Whatever the LEGO ring in question is representative of does not matter – Webster sharpens the tools of desire and fixates on the example in question, a representation of whatever it is you, the listener, are desperate for.
Plenty of time to think about that through some well-moved instrumentals. The whistling, radio frequency-like effect followed up by Yachty bursting into an artificial bit of tech-washed vocal work is a nice treat. There is a short and sweet nature to this piece which does not exactly benefit the whirring styles fighting one another here. Those jutting piano notes strike through to take this piece somewhere darker, nastier, to a place where desire is chastised for the greed it can present. But instead, Webster and Yachty take this tune someplace else, to a whirring and wild experience of instrumental wonder which hears them sacrifice lyrical clarity and observation for the sake of moving their sound on. A necessary move for many, and credit to the pair of them for trying it out on Lego Ring.
Neat enough to work and with a biting edge to it that filters through those notes of real wonder, Lego Ring can pride itself on being a piece trying to figure out the world around it. No chance though. Nobody can. Webster and Yachty throw all they can at the wall and the result is a sonic force bleeding effortless bedroom pop notes with some clunkier and distracting attempts at guitar-led rock. So much going on and as messy a piece it is to untangle, there is some joy to be had with a song risky enough and gutsy enough to try its hand at new form. Webster has enough momentum behind her to do so and Yachty did so successfully last year on Let’s Start Here. Both are on the same wavelength and hope their listeners are on board for it – though miss out on a few crucial steps as they try and blur the unlikely pairings.
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