Formed over a decade ago while all students at USC, Los Angeles indie pop trio MUNA found an instant kinship as friends and collaborators, fusing their eclectic musical backgrounds- punk, prog, country, ska- into something much more poppy, indie, electro-laced, and hook-laden. Made up of singer and multi-instrumentalist Katie Gavin, and guitarists and multi-instrumentalists Naomi McPherson and Josette Maskin, all three members identify as queer, and McPherson as non-binary, an identity which they’ve learned to lean into over time, lifting up queer love and joy with their art. After generating some buzz for their self-released 2014 debut EP More Perfect, MUNA caught the attention of RCA Records, which released the group’s follow-up EP, Loudspeaker, in 2016, and debut album, About U, the following year. Embraced for their hooky sound, unabashed queerness, and early singles like “I Know a Place,” MUNA quickly seemed poised to become the next big thing, debuting at Lollapalooza and on The Tonight Show, and touring with the likes of Grouplove, Bleachers, and Harry Styles.
Though that buzz sustained and 2019 sophomore effort Saves the World proved an excellent, polished, and critically acclaimed follow-up, after their strong start, MUNA was unceremoniously dropped by RCA just a few months into the pandemic. Undeterred, the trio, whose deep and loving personal bond has long helped them persevere and succeed at each stage of their career, began working independently and uninhibitedly on new music, eventually signing a deal with friend and collaborator Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory label imprint, and scoring their most viral hit to that point with Bridgers ‘ team-up “Silk Chiffon.” Their subsequent third record, 2022’s eponymous MUNA, proved to be the band’s most unabashedly poppy, sincere, and honed effort to so far, an exuberant and celebratory reflection of queerness and a modern pop masterpiece through the lens of Y2K nostalgia (something the band deliberately focused on, aware that their childhoods in the aughts- a fairly homophobic time in pop culture- lacked this kind of aspirational queer expression), which attracted a bigger following than ever, and landed them on tour with the likes of Taylor Swift, Lorde, and Kacey Musgraves, and at fests like Coachella and Bonnaroo.
After that whirlwind record cycle, the band took a breather, and Gavin opted to make a solo album, What a Relief, which adopted a more folk-pop bent, very sonically distinct from MUNA’s sound. Always adamant that MUNA would return, Gavin’s solo foray was well-received, and included a tour with Lucy Dacus. Earlier this year, the trio began teasing a return on social media, ultimately announcing fourth album Dancing on the Wall, which arrived in May. More sonically dark and thematically serious than their last LP, Dancing bears inevitable influence from the bleaker sociopolitical climate in which it was crafted, but still, in spite of that, packs plenty of the band’s signature pop prowess. In support, MUNA will play their first Nashville in four years (and largest to date) tonight, Sept. 22 at The Pinnacle! Synthy, alt pop singer hemlocke springs will support, and tickets are still available right here while they last.
MUNA and hemlocke springs perform tonight, Sept. 22 at The Pinnacle. The show is all ages, begins at 8 p.m. (7 p.m. doors), and tickets are available for $77.87-114.39.
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