Muna

Description

Muna is magical. What other band could have marked the sad year 2021 with glitter and pom-poms? Who could have made you sing (and perhaps even believe) that life is fun during what may have been the hardest time of your life? "Silk Chiffon," featuring Phoebe Bridgers (who heads Saddest Factory, the band's label), hit the gray sky of a year and a half of pandemic like a double rainbow. Since Muna – made up of singer and songwriter Katie Gavin, guitarist and producer Naomi McPherson, and guitarist Josette Maskin – started making music together at the University of Southern California, they have always viewed pain as a foundation of desire, an inseparable part of growing up, and an inherent factor of a marginalized experience: the band members belong to queer and minority communities, and they primarily play for that audience. However, after nearly a decade of friendship and a long period of pandemic-induced introspection, the most radical note possible is that of happiness. Muna, the band's third self-titled album, is a milestone in their career; it is a demonstration of a band that has nothing to prove to anyone but themselves. The synth in "What I Want" sparkles like a dancefloor anthem à la Robyn; "Anything But Me" evokes a neon-soaked Shania Twain from the '80s; "Kind of Girl," with its soaring and plaintive chorus reminiscent of The Chicks, begs to be sung at maximum volume with your best friends. It is marked by a newfound creative confidence and technical ability, both in terms of arrangements and production. The writing, still as sleek as ever, opens up here to new moments of perspective and grace. Here, more than ever, Muna brings together its unique powers to break through the existential muck and suddenly transport us to a room where anything is possible – a place where the disco ball has never stopped throwing sparks on the walls, where you can sweat and cry and lie on the floor and kiss anyone, where vulnerability in the presence of those who love you can make you feel momentarily invincible, and where self-awareness only sharpens that feeling of joy.