For fans of Phoebe Bridgers, boygenius and of course, MUNA, Katie Gavin is a household name and known likely as the latter’s lead singer, alongside bandmates Naomi McPherson and Josette Maskin. Based in Los Angeles, trio MUNA met during their time at the University of Southern California and have released three exceptional records since. Now, three years after their latest self-titled release, MUNA, Katie Gavin ventures off on her debut solo project, What A Relief – a collection of tracks comprised from the very beginnings of her time in MUNA, right up to now, and the result is a vulnerable and lyrically evocative record of twelve tracks.
Taking a turn in direction from the energetic synth-pop and feel-good belters of MUNA’s discography, Gavin finds herself in folk tunes and bright guitar strings, with hints of southern twang in her flawless vocals. Before its full release on 25 October, Gavin put out three singles, ‘Aftertaste,’ ‘Casual Drug Use’ and ‘Inconsolable’ – each a slightly different taste of the record to come, focusing on aspects of love and selfhood. ‘Aftertaste’ grapples with still-lingering romantic feelings, ‘Casual Drug Use’ explores self-forgiveness for unhealthy coping mechanisms, whilst ‘Inconsolable’ poses an examination of generational trauma and intimacy, all themes which prevail throughout the album as a whole.
In the album’s opening track, ‘I Want It All’, Gavin eases us into the record with soft, plucky guitar and hushed vocals: “I want you to dream me / When you’re not sleeping / And I want you to miss me / When I’m right next to ya” She tackles themes of romance with an unbridled longing for the subject of the song, but so much so that she contradicts herself and is unable to pinpoint exactly what she wants. She laments, “And I want it all, all the time / I want it all / I’m gonna lose my mind.” But the ‘it’ is left unclear.
‘Aftertaste’, the record’s first single, follows the same theme, picking the record up with bright buzzing acoustics and Gavin’s midwestern twang. We’re thrust into her observations and regards towards a past romantic partner – “My hair got long / Your hair got cut / You wear that same old sweater” – that develops into something more confessional – “I feel naked when you look my way,” “You’re the only reason I came here,” as she expresses her rekindled affections for the other person after spending time apart.
‘The Baton’ and ‘Inconsolable’ tackle issues of generational trauma, and attempt to break the cycles Gavin feels she’s personally been trapped in. With muffled distortion and powerful harmonies, ‘The Baton’ addresses the women in Gavin’s family: her future daughter, her mother, and finally herself in expressing the fight to free oneself from the baggage of the women that came before. “I would tell my daughter / She must be her own mother / Cause I can only take her / As far as I can go” – Gavin explains that she can heal herself from her own trauma that has been passed down to her, but she can only heal her daughter as much as she has been able to heal herself, so she must go the rest of the distance without her. This same idea is repeated when Gavin considers her mother, and her own trauma that she has healed herself from – “I can’t come where you’re goin’ / Time unfurls and you’ll understand / The baton, it will be passed again.” The metaphor of the baton is simple yet extremely powerful, with the image of each mother cheering their daughter on, and this is definitely one of my personal highlights from the album.
‘Inconsolable’, the album’s third single, is another beautiful track that explores similar issues, and struggles with intimacy. Gavin pairs full country twang with gliding fiddle as she sings, “We’re from a whole house of people we’d describe as inconsolable / We don’t know how to be held.” The real beauty of this track is in its rawness and lyricism, where Gavin uses another metaphor, the baby lizard, to liken her healing and growth to: “But I’ve seen baby lizards running in the river when they open their eyes / Even though no one taught them how or why” – she suggests that if these animals can learn without anyone to guide them, then so can we.
‘Casual Drug Use’, the album’s second single, and the first song that was written for the record, has a clear ‘MUNA-esque’ sound shining through. Gavin’s bright vocals and the track’s pop-rock instrumentation take the forefront here, as she examines a past relationship and her ways of coping with it: ‘It’s a little unnerving / How fast I fall back in / To fixing my issues / With casual drug use,” “I feel like nothing is ruined.” Her outlook on using drugs to cope is very forgiving, and the entire song feels like a consolation for her past self.
In ‘As Good As It Gets’, Gavin features indie-rock singer Mitski in an assessment of stagnant relationships. “Do I disappoint you? / Am I not what I seemed?” Gavin wonders about the coasting moments of love, when the initial novelty wears off and a relationship lulls into mundanity. This develops through Mitski’s verse – “I want you to disappoint me / On and on until we’re old” – where there is comfort to be found in this mundanity, as it promises longevity and stability. Gavin and Mitski’s vocals come together in the final chorus, “I think this is as good as it gets”, and the two compliment each other beautifully. Having worked previously with artists such as Phoebe Bridgers and The Japanese House, exploring related themes of love and selfhood, Mitski is a perfect feature on this track, and leaves a memorable mark on another highlight from the album.
‘Sanitized’ and ‘Sketches’ are two tracks which contrast greatly in sound: the former a sultry, swaggering examination of the lengths we go to for love – the former an honest, heartful reflection on a past relationship. ‘Sanitized’ oozes influences of Fiona Apple and Tori Amos, with a rich drumline and punchy lyrics. Gavin demonstrates her efforts to appeal to a lover – “I lie perfectly still so I don’t mess up my hair /I’m a sanitized girl / I clean up for you my dear”, “It’s a sanitized world / How could anything grow here?” – whilst also leading the relationship to “go stillborn in the air”, due to either her efforts, or her partner’s standards. ‘Sanitized’ was by far the track that stood out to me upon a first listen, with its echoing keys and building break of guitar and vocal riffs. ‘Sketches’ meanwhile, marks the mellowing of the album’s latter half. Where Gavin finds distance and growth from a past relationship – “Thought my love for you was all time / Turns out all the time I never loved you” – she expresses that she doesn’t wish to go back to it, as she feels she would no longer fit with that past version of herself.
In ‘Sparrow’, the muse is analogised as a bird, and perhaps nature as a whole. Birdsong in the opening becomes virtual noise, as Gavin recalls a lover that has left: “Just like the birds / She’d up and gone”, but hopes she will come back, “They say what goes up / Usually comes back down.” Gavin equates environmental harm via technology to her own drug use – “A chemical treatment to right their wrongs” – in an attempt to deal with the aftermath of the relationship, and the result is a softly-swaying ninth track with crescendos of choral instances.
Another highlight from the record is ‘Sweet Abby Girl’– a track that left me stunned with sentiment. Gavin recalls her short but sweet time with her late dog, Abby, and the impact their bond had on her. In a whirl of distortive noise and rippling piano, Gavin’s tender vocals emerge – “Sweet Abby Girl / I should have wrote this while you were still here” – as she tackles the grief that comes with losing a pet: “You made me laugh / Now it’s making me cry / Thanks for coming in, my world / Sweet Abby Girl.”
The album’s closing tracks, ‘Keep Walking’ and ‘Today’ close the record with two personal reflections upon love and the self. In ‘Keep Walking’, Gavin finds peace in realising that she bears equal blame in a break-up. “You were not the villain after all / I’m at peace with you”, she concludes, “I’ll keep walking.” ‘Today’ marks the end of the album: with a call-back to ‘Sparrow’, Gavin moves into a space of individualism, and what it means to learn to navigate life and hardship alone. For Gavin, this means being patient and kind to yourself — “I’ll find a way / ‘Cause I was given today.” As the instrumentation softens further from ‘Keep Walking’, ‘Today’ is a sonic denouement which lays to rest the bashing and bashful emotions alike that weave throughout What A Relief.
As far as artists go, Katie Gavin will always be personally considered a hidden gem whether she’s belting pop power ballads, or humming alongside the strings of an acoustic. Her collaborative presence in MUNA, and now own-footing as a solo artist goes to show how her talent is boundless, and a delight to see unfold.