NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

MUNA ’s first two albums weren’t exactly uplifting, at least as a whole. Sure there are moments of empowerment, but the glass appears half-empty more times than not with songs about breakups and lost loves. On 2019’s Saves the World , two songs act as companions to a terrible breakup. “ Stayaway ” is an if/then song, explaining why the speaker won’t go out. She might see her old friends or the friends of her ex and might be dragged back into a bad romantic situation. “ Who ” is a song that speculates about the person who replaced the speaker. “Who are you singing about now?” Katie Gavin pleads on the chorus.   W HEN I GO OUT AGAIN… In the fall of 2021, MUNA returned with the bright duet with Phoebe Bridgers , the lead single “ Silk Chiffon ” from their third and self-titled album . While the other pre-release singles were not as hopeful as the lead single, all of them were more optimistic than the last album’s twin break-up tracks. There was, however, the album’s final single, release

In 2020, MUNA was dropped by their label RCA for “ not making enough money .” The queer-identifying trio had modest success with their first two records,   About U and Saves the World , but they would actually achieve a higher level of success on an indie label. The key to this renewed success was by partnering with an indie rock darling who had come to be known as a “serial collaborator” due to appearing on a range of projects from Paul McCartney to Taylor Swift . Phoebe Bridgers signed MUNA to her label Saddest Factory and functioned as the trio’s A&R person. MUNA quickly expanded their listener base with the hit featuring Bridgers, “ Silk Chiffon .” The song preceded  MUNA’s eponymous album by more than nine months and became the band’s most-streamed song. In March of 2022, MUNA released the second single from the album, “ Anything But Me .” YOU’RE GONNA SAY I ASKED FOR THE MOON. While MUNA is certainly overshadowed by Phoebe Bridgers and her own trio, boygenius , touring

Last month, The Japanese House released their long-anticipated follow-up album to 2019's Good at Falling . The solo project of Amber Mary Bain , The Japanese House collaborated with a number of musicians from Bon Iver 's Justin Vernon and The 1975 's Maty Healy and George Daniel to MUNA and Charli XCX on their latest project, In the End, It Always Does . The English singer-songwriter Amber Bain offers a hybrid between the acoustic and highly processed, like if Bon Iver recorded and produced Joni Mitchell. It's simple. It's zen. It's nice music for a rainy or slow humid summer day. I'M STILL LOOKING OUT FOR ME. Before releasing In the End, It Always Does, The Japanese House released the lead single, " Boyhood ." The instrumental direction of In the End, It Always Does feels less processed than The Japanese House's earlier work. Singer Amber Bain had talked about using The Japanese House to mask the person behind the music. I've written

Last year, MUNA released their self-titled record just in time to close out Pride month--and coincidentally coinciding with the overturning of Roe v. Wade. The album contained several singles leading up to the release of the record and the early '00s inspired " What I Want ," bombastic, loud, and proud and ready to get us all "danc[ing] in the middle of a gay bar." Since the release, MUNA has had some notable appearances at Coachella alongside with indie darlings boygenius and opening for Taylor Swift on her most recent tour. At Coachella, MUNA debuted two new songs, including their most recent post-third record single, " One That Got Away ," an '80s/'00s-inspired synth pop track on the common theme of the band, love that never worked out. And that's where we'll base our AppleMusic edition of 2023's Pride playlist. Enjoy!   Read “One That Got Away” by MUNA on Genius

  In 2015 when marriage equality was signed into law across the nation, Americans reacted in several ways. There was overt homophobia and blatant hatred often disguised as religion.  One of the last Adventist sermons I listened to was Dwight Nelson arguing that just because a nation can say something is legal doesn't make it moral.  There were   examples of civil disobedience in the courtrooms by the likes of Kim Davis refusing to perform same-sex weddings. There were businesses that refused service to same-sex couples getting married. Many took the law as a win for human rights. Statistics showed in 2015 that support for marriage equality was largely bi-partisan, meaning that people of all backgrounds, liberal or conservative, supported the right to marry. support for the victims following the  Pulse shooting in Orlando YOU TRIED TO SHRUG IT OFF WHEN I ASKED WHY SOMEBODY HURT YOU.  Then came June 12, 2016. When I heard the news, it was my 29th birthday-Korean Standard Time June 13

MUNA  is an alternative pop group composed of three friends who studied together at the  University of Southern California . The trio self-produced their debut EP and uploaded it to  Bandcamp  and  SoundCloud . The band's success with their debut EP led to the group signing with  RCA  records and releasing their 2017 debut record,  About U.   In May 2021, the band announced that they had signed to  Phoebe Bridgers '  Saddest Factory  record label. The group recently released the single " Silk Chiffon " which features Bridgers singing a verse. The song is one of the group's few singles to chart on  Billboard , peaking at #35 on the US Alternative chart.  KEEPIN' IT LIGHT LIKE SILK CHIFFON.  I think I first heard MUNA in the awkward teen comedy  Alex Strangelove ,  a story about a high school senior who is struggling to understand his sexuality. All the members of MUNA identify as queer, though, as a lyricist lead singer  Katie Gavin  often avoided pronouns in t

MUNA ’s third and self-titled album   was released on June 24th. Their album gives the single from September 2021, “ Silk Chiffon ,” a home. The band also released three other singles from the 11-track album prior to its release. But in early June last year, MUNA released a non-album track--a cover of Britney Spears ’ 1999 bubblegum ballad “ Sometimes ”--for the Hulu original film Fire Island , also released on the same day. The film was written by and stars comedian Joel Kim Booster and co-stars the Saturday Night Live openly gay comedian Bowan Yang in a modern queer retelling of Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice set in New York's legendary LGBTQ+ haven.   BABY, ALL I NEED IS TIME.   “Sometimes” is Britney Spears’ second single from her debut record, ...baby one more time . Following her smash #1 hit “ …Baby One More Time ,” “Sometimes” takes a more laidback adult contemporary sound. Like many of the songs on Britney’s debut record, “Sometimes” was produced by Max Martin

Coming to the end of the year, it's time to remember some of the musical highlights of 2022. I listened to a lot of music this year and maybe more new music than last year. But there certainly were albums that slipped under the radar. I had every intention of digging into  The Weeknd 's  Dawn FM   ,  but somehow I was never in that dark of a mood to resonate with the characteristics of that record. Today, I'm going to reveal my controversial list. Enjoy! #10 .  The Loneliest Time  by  Carly Rae Jepsen . The latest from the " Call Me Maybe " singer is a record that isn't immediately catchy and could easily fall between the cracks because of all the big releases of this year. The diverse singles showed different camera angles of a maturing pop singer who has solidified her status in music nerd-dom and gay music listeners alike. And with her first explicit labeled song, Jepsen is distancing herself from former tween-friendly aesthetic. I'm sure next year I