“I want the fireworks/I want the chemistry,” announced Katie Gavin on MUNA's “What I Want,” “That's what I want/There's nothing wrong/With what I want.” The track oozes with unapologetic hedonism, positioning Gavin's hunger – for shots and drugs, “to dance in the middle of a gay bar”, for the attention of a cute stranger – as righteous. So compare it to 'I Want It All', the opening track from Gavin's new album, What a relief. While its title may sound just as wishy-washy, the song charts a subtler, gentler path: Over a soft guitar, Gavin softly yearns for grace and compassion in a relationship, for a lover who promises to “forgive me/ not sure what else.”
This change of tone characterizes What a reliefGavin's debut as a solo artist. The record isn't a complete departure from MUNA – Gavin has promised that it does not signal separation for the trio — but instead features songs that Gavin wrote over a number of years and presented to her bandmates, who decided they didn't fit MUNA's sound. “MUNA has become so ambitious, so the songs have to scale to a certain size.” Gavin said. The songs up What a reliefthen, they represent Gavin's songwriting pared down, replacing the band's festival-sized choruses with down-to-earth lyrics and folky touches of production. While it doesn't quite reach the heights of Gavin's work with MUNA, What a relief offers inner self-portraits whose sound recalls Gavin's youth and stories rich with the kind of empathy that is only gained over time.
Gavin drew inspiration for What a relief from a sound she calls “Lilith Fair-core,” and there are echoes of late '90s and early '00s female singer-songwriters throughout the record: her lilting voice on “Aftestaste” echoes Alanis Morissette. The sly badass of “Sanitized” brings to mind Fiona Apple or Tori Amos. the mandolin and violin on “Inconsolable,” played by Sean and Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek, call back to the Chicks. The album is not entirely retrospective. Gavin has a distinctive voice and her songs are grounded in the present. But the DNA of childhood favorites is evident in her song, like seeing a picture of your mom when she was your age and realizing how much you look alike.
from our partners at https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/katie-gavin-what-a-relief
