MUNA - STAYAWAY

This era (2019) will be officially known as the time of electro-tinged depression pop. I’m so unequivocally sure of this that we’ve officially trademarked the phrase. Electro-tinged depression pop. You can just trademark something by saying you’ve trademarked it, right? No? Shit. Well, regardless, Muna brings some freshness to the genre du jour. The one that seems to have all the millennials, full of malaise, clamoring for on their music streaming services. 

Everybody’s fucking depressed. The world is a mess. Why the hell would we be listening to songs that tell us ‘come on get happy,’ when we need our Zoloft prescription to renew to even settle into normal? Of course, everybody’s miserable in the music multiverse right now. It’s horrible most everywhere we look. What better way to capture the world’s interest than by just saying how we’re all already are feeling? Pretty goddamn terrible.

MUNA - STAYWAY

Big electro drums kick off this song, before dark brooding vocals of singer Katie Gavin tell a story of a couple on the verge of getting back together. Looking for more heartbreak where it already happened once is the only safe space for many in desperate need of love-- or at least touch. Sometimes we all just need to be held by someone familiar. Cruel and unusual punishment, but we inflict it on ourselves. 

It’s not all slime and snails-- the world isn’t so bleak that we can’t recover from it. This is what sad music is for. To remind us not to make the same mistakes, and that there are others out there who have it just as difficult as us.  Music fills the emotions in where we’re unable to connect to the people in our own lives. I think for those who think they’ve got it bad, Muna could be some sort of savior. The LA trio of Gavin, Josette Maskin, and Naomi McPherson are making music for miserable people. But they’re making life better by making that music.

Is there anyone who’s ever sounded like Muna in the history of music? Yeah, of course. Is there anyone creating such a serenely uplifting uneasiness right now? Not that I can think of. Does this make anyone else feel like maybe Savage Garden dropped twenty years too early? Muna’s full-length debut Saves the World just dropped everywhere. Make sure to give the whole thing a listen. It might just brighten up a bad day.

From deep within the murky depths of the Los Angeles River emerged a creature: 50% raver, 50% comedian, 10% Robotcop. Kurt Kroeber doesn’t own a dog, operates Soundbleed (the world’s only dance party comedy talk show rave), and is down to party with you. Come up some time and say “Hey dude!” But definitely make sure to casually drop the secret Illuminati password.