MUNAWinterbreak

Muna - Winterbreak

Apparently, we’ve arrived at the Imogen-Heap-revivalist point-in-time.  From the phrasing to the layered vocoder vocals, Heap’s influence is all over the track.  However, MUNA makes that sound a whole lot better than you might think.  MUNA take the only-in-college experience of the inevitable well-we’re-both-here-for-the-month-so-we-might-as-well-do-this-again rendezvous and mine it for every drop of synthy melodrama they can.  It works, too.  Even if you didn’t have that left-over-from-high-school relationship that you revisited for one or two nights over each university holiday, or you weren’t in college when Imogen Heap had her moment, there’s enough here to love for the song to land.  The arrangement is lush, but not overdone.  The vocals are detached, but sensual.  The lyrics hit the sweet-spot mixture of storytelling and conversational, with the added bonus of 20-something lines like “you pull that face like ‘here we go again’, so I pull the flask out the back of my jeans”.  Even with the pitch-perfect we’re-adults-now-this-is-what-adults-do lyricism, MUNA makes it clear it’s an event they’re viewing through their now-actual-adult lens, with the legitimately great pop chorus “Oh, baby, I think we both know this is a love we won’t get right.  Still, if you said that you wanted, I know I’ll always have one more try.”  MUNA is a group to watch, as this follow-up to their previously released empowerment anthem “Loudspeaker” is equally great.

Also, as a side note:  A lot has been written about the group’s queer identity, and that’s fair.  They address the issues and relationships with every bit of non-issue subtlety that indicates a wonderfully refreshing amount of normalcy.  However, it’s often a characteristic that can outshine a group’s actual music, which is a shame.  It would be especially unfortunate in MUNA's case, because their songs are great