You need to listen to queer L.A. girlband MUNA’s new song about overcoming adversity and loving yourself
In the face of adversity and uncertainty, music can bring us together. That’s why we can’t get enough of queer L.A. girlband MUNA and their latest song, “Crying On The Bathroom Floor.”
We’ve previously gushed about MUNA before, and now the L.A. three-piece — comprised of band members Katie Gavin, Josette Maskin, and Naomi McPherson — have shared their latest single ahead of the release of their debut album, About U, next month (February 3rd).
Until then, however, we’re going to be playing “Crying On The Bathroom Floor” for, well, eternity.
Following on from the rallying LGBTQ+ anthems “I Know A Place” and the infectious “Loudspeaker,” “Crying On The Bathroom Floor” is an ominous, synth heavy song with glittering ’80s style production and the band’s signature confessional, dark, and explicitly honest lyrics.
Where the song comes to life, however, is in the punchy and exuberant chorus. Listen to “Crying On The Bathroom Floor” below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUmk2Hr6sZw?feature=oembed
Following the song’s release, MUNA shared a short essay about the story behind the song, and it has an important and integral message of hope in moments of abject darkness.
"We wrote 'Crying On The Bathroom Floor' while we were reading and writing and thinking and talking about the concept of traumatic bonding," the band wrote. "Traumatic Bonding refers to the phenomenon of survivors in abusive relationships forming strong attachments to their abusers. This attachment plays out on a physical, biochemical level throughout the cycle of abuse, akin to the highs and withdrawls of a drug addiction."
Continuing, the group said that they wanted to portray “the nuanced inner-struggle that comes with being mistreated,” noting that as humans while we’re often asked to be “uncompromising and unforgiving” to abuse. However, as the band write, the cycle of abuse is hard to break, mainly because hate speech and abuse can become ingrained in our own inner dialogue, and can therefore be hard to break free from.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BLv3TqiB6kT
The track, they say, is about one specific “dark place” in which someone recongnizes that what they’re experiencing isn’t love.
"Today we find our nation in a dark place," they wrote. "A man who exhibits textbook abusive behavior is being sworn in a the President of the United States. He provokes, name-calls, gaslights, threatens, and he does so while making it clear that he has no intention of listening to how that makes us feel."
However, MUNA argue, it’s imperative that as a nation we notice that we’re entering into our own traumatic bonding and that it’ll be difficult to break.
"But this, we know: we must be uncompromising. We must be unforgiving. We must ask for more from ourselves, from our country, and from our (yes this is real) President."
Read their full essay below.
on crying on the bathroom floor and the presidential inauguration @Spotify https://t.co/QuzKmgEKBT @AppleMusic https://t.co/335bgoiUrS pic.twitter.com/vhfVPxOYUT
— MUNA (@whereisMUNA) January 20, 2017
It’s pretty hard to disagree with that, we think you’ll agree!
MUNA release their debut album About U (which is very good, btw) on February 3rd. “Crying On The Bathroom Floor” is available now.
