Voyage To Mars

Following a trio of dreamy, seductive indie pop EPs that were collected on 2019s Munya, Quebecs Josie Boivin makes her official full-length debut as Munya with Voyage to Mars, an album that doubles down on underlying dance grooves. Like the EPs, it was entirely written, produced, and recorded by Boivin at home, with handful of guests making long-distance appearances here on guitar, drums, and bass guitar. She begins the album with humming synths, a locked-in keyboard and bass groove, and a steady four on the floor on the French-language "Marucuya," whose "not interested" message is quickly outnumbered by uplifting material full of affection, complicated romance, and quirky strangers in addition to wobbly, otherworldly synth timbres. (Voyage to Mars was named in reference to the classic Georges Melies silent film Le Voyage dans la Lune.) While mainly populated by structured pop songs, the elated, bilingual "Cocoa Beach" plays like a club mix, with funky, 80s-styled basslines leading listeners through an otherwise disorienting key change thats followed by thematic lyrics including "Shes getting high again...Shes a rocket in the sky." Elsewhere, the lonely "America" yearns to return home with a chorus of melodic "la la las," and standout "Life Is a Dream" juxtaposes midtempo melancholia and coquettish love bombs ("Take me to the moon...Life is a dream/You are the one"). Munya brings it to a close with the cowbell-visited "Tresor" (French for "treasure"), which finds solace by retreating into dreams. Encouraging movement -- physically and emotionally -- throughout, Voyage to Mars celestial qualities consistently hover above ground, even on the albums one cover, a pillowy version of the Smashing Pumpkins "Tonight, Tonight." ~ Marcy Donelson