MUNA Played “Anything But Me” On Ellen With A Strut In Their Step
I feel like you don’t see indie artists reclaiming adult-contemporary pop sounds as aggressively as they were in the 2010s, and maybe that’s a good thing on balance. But if you’re going to go full ’90s VH1, you can’t do it much better than MUNA did with “Anything But Me,” the latest and greatest single from their upcoming self-titled LP. (Yes, even better than “Silk Chiffon.”)
Lyrically, “Anything But Me” is a smartly written breakup song that manages to be tender and brutal all at once: “But it’s all love and it’s no regrets, you can call me if there’s anything you need/ Anything but me.” But what I like most about the track is the way it resembles HAIM’s immaculate “The Wire,” especially in the tense country-rock percolations that gives each song so much rhythmic energy. Performing “Anything But Me” on Ellen, MUNA leaned way into that rhythm, gracefully kicking and strutting their way through the song. It was a deeply charismatic performance from Katie Gavin and the gang.
Watch below.
MUNA is out 6/24 on Saddest Factory.