Muna are floating in the space between indie up-and-comers and pop stars as they prepare to release their next, self-titled album, which has “Anything But Me,” their biggest song since their hit “Silk Chiffon.”
Today, they’re showing admiration to one of the most important pop stars of the past couple of decades — Britney Spears — by sharing a cover of her “Sometimes” from her 1999 classic LP …Baby One More Time. They make the song their own by adding a lush texture, sporadic beats, and Katie Gavin’s distinct voice; it’s dance-ready, but also has a sense of melancholy.
This bittersweetness is similar to their song “Home By Now,” about which they said: “‘Home By Now’ is the song on the record that we feel might be closest to our first album in that it’s a dance song with brutal lyrics and an emo bridge. It’s a breakup song that’s a bit more full of longing and doubt than ‘Anything But Me.’ While a lot of this album does seem to be about trusting my instincts, this song acknowledges the pain of not knowing if I left a relationship that I was meant to be in.”
Their cover of “Sometimes” is on the soundtrack to Fire Island, which is streaming now on Hulu. Listen to it above.