Muna lead singer Katie Gavin has announced her first solo album. What A Relief, which she described as “Lilith Fair-core,” is coming out on October 25 on Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory Records. “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 said. “What A Relief explores and portrays it honestly, without shame.” One of the songs, “As Good As It Gets,” includes a guest spot from Mitski.
Gavin also released a video for first single “Aftertaste,” which you can watch above.
“That song takes place inside of the magnetic force, when I’m really drawn to somebody and still feeling like it’s gonna work,” she said about the track. “Sometimes it’s fun to surrender to that feeling – I think a lot of songwriters have a strong relationship with romantic fantasy.”
She continued, “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. ‘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.”
Check out the video above and find the album artwork and tracklist below.