What a Relief [Explicit Content]

Katie Gavin's debut What A Relief taps into the

unguarded self-possession and homespun pop

sensibility of singers like Alanis Morissette, Fiona Apple

and Ani DiFranco, and uses their tenacity as a north star

for Gavin's own trek towards self-discovery. "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" they say.

Written over the course of seven years, What A Relief

comprises a set of songs that Gavin always loved but

which "had something in them" that she and her

bandmates felt didn't quite fit within the universe they

were trying to cultivate with MUNA. Many of them were

written on acoustic guitar, and are rooted in "a style of

music that's very much in my blood, and natural for me,"

as typified by the Women & Songs CDs that Gavin loves,

which compiled music by artists like Tracy Chapman, Tori

Amos and Sarah McLachlan.

That openness of spirit is the overwhelming character of

What A Relief, an album that's refreshing in it's

willingness to accept people as they come, even as it

remains in dogged pursuit of a life that's kinder, wiser

and more loving. Gavin's explorations of desire and

intimacy feel time-worn and necessary - songs that

might teach a generation if not how to live, exactly, then

at least how to look within oneself for guidance about

how to move forward.