That explains why Muna’s music is always propulsive. “If you’re not sweating after the first song, come on,” McPherson laughs.

With a growing fan base, this fall they will go on their largest tour ever, titled the Gets So Hot Tour after the album’s opening song, although the band previously joked that it would be called “The Midwest Princess, Midnight Sun and the Eras Tour as Well”, before abandoning the idea for copyright reasons.

A decade into their career, they’re playing to “crowds we could never have imagined,” while witnessing the genre labeled “queer pop” expand into the mainstream, with artists like Chappell Roan, Renée Rapp, Lil Nas X, and Troye Sivan all achieving crossover success.

“I feel like we were on the cusp of reclaiming the word ‘queer,'” Maskin says.

“For us, it’s actually a term of celebration, because it’s inclusive, it includes all members of the LGBTQI+ community.

“The idea of ​​queer theory first came out of academia,” says McPherson, who admits that the band was initially divided over whether they should be open about their sexuality.

“We were reluctant to come out in the hipster Pitchfork era of 2010 and 2011. We wanted to be mysterious and closeted, and Katie was the one who encouraged us not to and just be ourselves. And we’ve only become more ourselves.”

Still, the label can be restrictive. Muna wants his music to be universal.

“The subject matter we write about is queer at its core, just like our life experiences,” McPherson says.

“The problem we struggle with is wanting that to also be accepted as a human experience, especially in these times of great repression.”

If anyone can do it, Muna can do it. Just don’t let them play with your pets.