MUNA - MUNA

After the "therapeutic" intensity of 2019’s Saves the World, MUNA—the trio of Katie Gavin, Naomi McPherson, and Josette Maskin—returned in 2022 with a self-titled masterpiece that feels like a "double rainbow" after a long, grey storm. Now signed to Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory Records, the band traded their "bedroom failure" anthems for the "confetti-gun" bliss of "Silk Chiffon." The album is a "vibrant and brilliant" masterclass in pop source code, blending Robyn-esque dance-floor scintillations with Shania Twain-style gallops and "The Chicks-inspired" plaintive choruses.

This third studio effort is a "hard-won freedom" for the band, who returned to their self-produced roots to create a "cinematic landscape" where vulnerability makes you feel "momentarily bulletproof." From the "pulsating urgency" of "What I Want" to the "spacey, coming-of-age" finale of "Shooting Star," MUNA is the definitive sound of three best friends who have "nothing to prove to anyone except themselves."