There's no better place of reckoning than a dance floor. To dance is to decipher and discern, and the sordid, sticky heat of a nightclub serves as the perfect stage on which to enact life's biggest mysteries and work through them, one at a time. Everything is different under those lights, and that dark, alluring atmosphere acts as the perfect home for
MUNA's fourth album, '
Dancing On The Wall'. An album that exists in a place of contemplation, in between conflict and fear and desire and euphoria, 'Dancing On The Wall' is the inevitable product of the chaos of the last few years for MUNA, and arguably, their best yet. With their self-titled third album, Katie Gavin, Naomi McPherson and Josette Maskin saw new heights of success - 'Silk Chiffon' still continues to ring in everyone's ears the moment the sun comes out each year, the stages they found themselves on grew rapidly in size, and they embarked on their longest album cycle set as a result. With that being said, there was a lot left to contemplate when they finally arrived at a much-needed break. It was time to reckon with, recharge and reconvene, and let whatever happened next unfold as it may. "We needed enough time to change a little bit more," explains Josette, as the band finally find time to pause and snack, upstairs in the studio they've just spent the afternoon shooting in. Katie chips in: "There were certain life experiences that needed to happen for this record to fully come into fruition. Each of us had experiences, so we individuated a little bit, and that made us stronger when we came back together. I think you can fall into really specific roles in a band, and when we came back together, there was more space for people to feel more fluid, and that helped the creative process."
Though they toured 'MUNA' through to 2024, the trio still found time to stretch their creative muscles elsewhere. Katie released a solo album, Josette accrued even more songwriting credits, and Naomi even found themself making their on-camera debut ("Naomi looked fabulous in a movie…" says Josette. "I'm open for more roles," they confirm). Differentiating in their work lives and changing and growing in their personal lives was crucial for 'Dancing On The Wall', and facilitated by the sheer power of 'MUNA'.
"We had our most successful album with our last album," Katie acknowledges. "Then you have this really nice thing, which is time. We've never had the ability to take that much time, and I think we really loved that. In our ideal world, we've made a record that will allow us to have that again. We've received something really wonderful, and we would like to keep it."
Josette continues: "It's allowed us to make something that's different for us. We've changed enough to be able to be different people than we were with 'MUNA'."
When 'MUNA' was released, the band ultimately had things to prove - having been dropped from their label, their third album was the first on Saddest Factory Records, and it saw them return with a ferocity and determination to make an album that showcased their phenomenal artistry and capabilities. This time around, things were different. They knew exactly what they were capable of, and so did the rest of the world. All that mattered was making something that felt MUNA.
"In my opinion, so many things happened for us on the last cycle that we had been fantasising about doing for our entire career as a band," says Naomi. "The goalposts just change when you achieve those things… On the last album, we set out to make as many good songs with as few restrictions on the song. We were like, we'll have a country song, and an acoustic pop song. We were trying to flex our muscles and show ourselves and the listeners that this is all the stuff that we can do. This one, although it is obviously sonically eclectic still, I feel has a more contained mood, and story, and sense about it. Even though the last record is self-titled, that is tongue-in-cheek in a way. This feels like a very quintessentially MUNA album."
