A lot has happened in the past couple years for LA-based trio MUNA. Ever since the release of their 2019 album Saves the World, the group’s star power has continued to brighten, leading them to sign with Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory Records and, soon, to be touring with their label head and Kacey Musgraves. Over the past year they’ve been dropping remixes of Marina, Of Monsters and Men, Zoe Wees, Winona Oak, and Lauren Aquilina. Today, they’ve released their first original single of the year, with a feature from Bridgers, titled “Silk Chiffon.”
“Silk Chiffon” is a queer embrace of sugary ’90s pop. During the single’s chorus, the decadent fabric gets a euphoric shoutout as vocalist Katie Gavin and Bridgers rejoice: “That’s how it feels, oh, when she’s on me.” Over urgent guitar strums doused in desire, “Silk Chiffon” gives off a heavy “7 Things” by Miley Cyrus vibe. But instead of taking the lush chords to a place of fury like Cyrus does, MUNA find a territory that’s sunlit jubilation. Producer and guitarist Naomi McPherson described it as “a song for kids to have their first gay kiss to.”
The single’s greatness doesn’t stop there—it also comes with a video directed by Ally Pankiw that’s heavily inspired by 1999’s cult classic film But I’m a Cheerleader. In the visual, Gavin stars as a cheerleader (based on the film’s character played by Natasha Lyonne) who’s sent to a conversion camp that finds masculine- and feminine-presenting people in gender-binary-coded clothes. Of course, it’s a satire. Wonderfully and ironically, Gavin falls in love a fellow camper and the whole crew makes a getaway.
Not only is the video striking, “Silk Chiffon” nods to classic forebears of representation while providing hope and joy in a world that at times feels so eager to stifle it. In the press release, Gavin added, “I think it’s really important for queer people to be our own archivists, and point to these other references that span generations.”
Watch the video below, and check out their tour dates here.
