Four years since their last project, Muna 鈥� the Los Angeles-based synth pop band composed of , Naomi McPherson and Josette Maskin 鈥� has returned with their fourth album, 鈥淒ancing On The Wall.鈥� Electric and urgent, the record tracks the emotional highs and lows of dating and desire under the palpable weight of the current political moment. The result isn’t escapist, but it’s still a party.
Album opener 鈥淚t Gets So Hot鈥� is about bodies in motion and sweat on the dance floor. The heat in question isn鈥檛 just figurative 鈥� it’s radiating from 鈥淚t gets so hot that I can鈥檛 even think straight / And she鈥檚 so hot when she鈥檚 putting on her makeup,鈥� Gavin sings over a buoyant keyboard, synths creeping underneath. The writing is tight, the chorus booming, the production by McPherson 鈥� with those round, reverberating drums 鈥� recalling sound effects that might accompany a cable TV news flash.
That reference, intentional or not, adds to the feeling that these songs are set in a world of contradictory experiences. It is the exuberance or excitement that can exist alongside despair, the way anxiety can oscillate from being personal and existential.
That’s part of the approach to 鈥淏ig Stick,鈥� the record’s most politically-pointed song. Gavin sings about the numbing influence of power: from the government, the media, wealthy individuals to influencers, and how it encourages group-think and the acceptance of atrocities. 鈥淎nd I control the airwaves I control the news so / I can make you want anything that I want you to,鈥� she sings in the chorus. Examples of what that 鈥渁nything鈥� is intensifies as the song continues: 鈥淢ake you want to build an army and wage a war,鈥� she sings. The lyrics are expansive, the message unwavering.
Bold drums and warped backing vocals underline Gavin’s voice across the album, placing these tracks firmly within Muna’s synth pop discography. And like they’ve become known for, the songs are danceable, written with an insider鈥檚 attention to detail without becoming exclusionary. The addictive 鈥淓astside Girls,鈥� a L.A.-based lesbian reimagining of 鈥淲e Didn’t Start the Fire,鈥� is a burning example.
But above all, these songs are of the moment. Amid everything, there is still love and lust 鈥� and those things too, aren’t uncomplicated. 鈥淚 know how to hurt myself on you,鈥� Gavin sings on the title track. The melancholic 鈥淏uzzkiller,鈥� sums up the complicated nature of feeling all of that at once. 鈥淵ou think I’m so easy to love / Baby please you鈥檙e just buzzed,鈥� she sings. 鈥淚鈥檓 a buzzkiller.鈥�
Gone is the weightless freedom of their breakthrough single 鈥淪ilk Chiffon.鈥� But the dance floor still calls.
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鈥淒ancing On The Wall鈥� by Muna
Four stars out of five.
On repeat: 鈥淓astside Girls,鈥� 鈥淒ancing On The Wall鈥�
Skip it: 鈥淧arty鈥檚 Over,鈥� 鈥淯nless 鈥︹��
For fans of: Dancing on your own, waiting by the phone, Los Angeles, hot city streets
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