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Jul 23, 2024 By Marina Malin Photography by Alexa Viscius

Katie Gavin, lead singer of indie-pop trio MUNA, has announced her debut solo album, What a Relief, which will be released on October 25 via Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory label. Today, she shares the album’s lead single “Aftertaste,” via a music video that was made in collaboration with Alexa Viscius. Watch the video below. Also below, find Gavin’s tour dates and the tracklist and cover art for What a Relief.

On “Aftertaste,” Gavin had this to say in a press release: “That song takes place inside of the magnetic force, when I’m really drawn to somebody and still feeling like it’s gonna work. Sometimes it’s fun to surrender to that feeling—I think a lot of songwriters have a strong relationship with romantic fantasy.

“I thought this song would be a good place to start because to me it kind of serves as a bridge, sonically and thematically, between MUNA’s world and the world we are going to with the solo record.

“‘Aftertaste’ is a sweet song about carrying a torch for someone, realizing that you are going out to concerts and parties hoping to run into them there. The song is a playing out of a fantasy, really, both because it involves confessing your crush and finding out that it is reciprocated.

“Naomi McPherson helped me come up with the idea for the video, in which I’m the subject of a nude drawing class, and Alexa Viscius co-directed with me and brought in an amazing team of Chicago creatives to bring it to fruition. Filming in the city I’m from felt very right for introducing this solo work. Back to my roots, if you will.”

Of the album, Gavid said this: “This record spans a lot of my life – it’s about having a really deep desire for connection, but also encountering all the obstacles that stood in my way to be able to achieve that, patterns of isolation or even boredom with the real work of love. What A Relief explores and portrays it honestly, without shame.”

What a Relief Tracklist:

1. I Want It All

2. Aftertaste

3. The Baton

4. Casual Drug Use

5. As Good As It Gets ft. Mitski

6. Sanitized

7. Sketches

8. Inconsolable

9. Sparrow

10. Sweet Abby Girl

11. Keep Walking

12. Today

Katie Gavin Tour Dates:

July 27 - Newport Folk Festival - Newport, RI*^

Sep 7 - Evanston Folk Festival - Evanston, IL*

Sep 11 - The Old Church - London, UK^

Nov 19 - Neumos - Seattle WA^

Nov 20 - The Old Church - Portland OR^

Nov 22 - Bimbo’s 365 Club - SF, CA^

Nov 24 - Pappy + Harriet’s - Pioneertown, CA^

Nov 25 - Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever - Los Angeles, CA^

Dec 8 - The Blue Room - Nashville, TN^

Dec 10 - Bowery Ballroom - NY, NY^

Dec 13 - The Atlantis - Washington DC^

Dec 14 - Brighton Music Hall - Boston, MA^

Dec 16 - The Great Hall - Toronto, ON^

Dec 18 - Thalia Hall - Chicago, IL^

* w/ MUNA

^ headline

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