MUNA singer Katie Gavin has announced her debut solo album: What a Relief arrives on October 25 via Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory Records. It’s led by the single ‘Aftertaste’, which is accompanied by a video Gavin co-directed with Alexa Viscius. Check it out and find the album’s cover art and tracklist below.
“That song takes place inside of the magnetic force, when I’m really drawn to somebody and still feeling like it’s gonna work,” Gavin said of ‘Aftertaste’ in a statement. “Sometimes it’s fun to surrender to that feeling – I think a lot of songwriters have a strong relationship with romantic fantasy.”
“I thought this song would be a good place to start because to me it kind of serves as a bridge, sonically and thematically, between MUNA’s world and the world we are going to with the solo record…” Gavin continued. “‘Aftertaste’ is a sweet song about carrying a torch for someone, realizing that you are going out to concerts and parties hoping to run into them there. The song is a playing out of a fantasy, really, both because it involves confessing your crush and finding out that it is reciprocated.”
Commenting on the video, Gavin added: “Naomi McPherson helped me come up with the idea for the video, in which I’m the subject of a nude drawing class, and Alexa Viscius co-directed with me and brought in an amazing team of Chicago creatives to bring it to fruition,” Gavin added.” Filming in the city I’m from felt very right for introducing this solo work. Back to my roots, if you will.”
What a Relief includes a collaboration with Mitski called ‘As Good As It Gets’. “This record spans a lot of my life – it’s about having a really deep desire for connection, but also encountering all the obstacles that stood in my way to be able to achieve that, patterns of isolation or even boredom with the real work of love,” Gavin reflected. “What A Relief explores and portrays it honestly, without shame.”
What a Relief Cover Artwork:
What a Relief Tracklist:
1. I Want It All
2. Aftertaste
3. The Baton
4. Casual Drug Us
5. As Good As It Gets ft. Mitski
6. Sanitized
7. Sketches
8. Inconsolable
9. Sparrow
10. Sweet Abby Girl
11. Keep Walking
12. Today
