Description:

Katie Gavins 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 Gavins own trek towards self-discovery. This record spans a lot of my life its 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 didnt 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 thats 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 thats refreshing in its willingness to accept people as they come, even as it remains in dogged pursuit of a life thats kinder, wiser and more loving. Gavins 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.

Tracklist:

1. I Want It All
2. Aftertaste
3. The Baton
4. Casual Drug Use
5. As Good As It Gets
6. Sanitized
7. Sketches
8. Inconsolable
9. Sparrow
10. Sweet Abby Girl
11. Keep Walking
12. Today