H is for horny, according to Josette Maskin. “MUNA’s new record [...] says it’s OK to be horny,” she quips, in our new dA-Zed guide to being MUNA.
The group’s third, self-titled new record, is an indisputably sexy album: it opens with “Silk Chiffon”, a song brimming with sapphic yearning. Then comes “What I Want”, an anthem about hooking up with leather-clad girls and taking ecstasy in gay clubs. “We recently found out people fuck to our music because a few people told us,” guitarist and producer Naomi McPherson says – and really, that’s no surprise.
Created after the trio had been dropped by their label and re-signed with Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory Records – and released as the world began to emerge from the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic – it’s also a celebration of fresh starts, new beginnings and growth. Even the word ‘muna’ is Finnish for egg. “Finnish people have been very, very diligent in letting us know that over the years,” according to McPherson.
The group take time for reflection on the album, too. The penultimate track, “Loose Garments”, is all about letting go of past pain. “It was like a weight that we needed to get off our shoulders,” singer-songwriter Katie Gavin shared in an interview with Dazed earlier this year. “Now, it’s like we’re just dancing around in the space that’s left after that.”
Watch the full breakdown in MUNA’s dA-Zed guide above for more.