MUNA Dancing On The Wall
MUNA's Dancing On The Wall pivots between club euphoria and a stubborn, queasy intimacy, offering glossy hooks that often conceal sharper political and emotional edges. Across professional reviews, critics praise the album's propulsive pop craft while debating whether its maximalist production amplifies its themes of d
The best song is the opener 'It Gets So Hot' because it bathes the album in hedonistic heat and immediately unfurls desire.
The album’s core strength is larger-than-life hooks and bold production, but uneven songwriting and blunt messaging undercut some highs.
Best for listeners looking for desire and intimacy, starting with It Gets So Hot and Dancing On The Wall.
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Full consensus notes
MUNA's Dancing On The Wall pivots between club euphoria and a stubborn, queasy intimacy, offering glossy hooks that often conceal sharper political and emotional edges. Across professional reviews, critics praise the album's propulsive pop craft while debating whether its maximalist production amplifies its themes of desire, queer yearning and political urgency or simply buries them beneath sheen.
The critical consensus lands at a 69.71/100 across 7 professional reviews, with repeated nods to standout tracks that sustain the record's momentum. Critics consistently name “It Gets So Hot”, “Dancing On The Wall” and “So What” among the best songs on Dancing On The Wall, while “On Call” and “Girl's Girl” are singled out by several reviewers for stirring choruses and intimacy. Praise centers on MUNA's knack for sticky melodies and the tense interplay of euphoria versus menace; Clash and Northern Transmissions celebrate the band's storytelling and danceable urgency, and Slant highlights the album's darker, more cohesive turn.
Not all critics are convinced. Exclaim and Far Out warn that style sometimes outpaces substance, calling parts of the record one-note or overproduced, and several reviews flag blunt political messaging and occasional lyrical surface-leveling as limiting factors. Still, where the band pares emotion with sharper hooks - notably on “It Gets So Hot”, “So What” and the title track - the results emerge as the album's most vital moments. For readers searching for a concise verdict on Dancing On The Wall, the critical consensus suggests a spirited, occasionally uneven pop record with several must-listen tracks and enough ambition to reward repeat plays.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
It Gets So Hot
5 mentions
"while ‘It Gets So Hot’ initially feels like it centres on all-consuming lust, the heat of Los Angeles is claustrophobic, humid and oppressive"— New Musical Express (NME)
Dancing On The Wall
3 mentions
"This feeling bleeds into the titular second track ‘Dancing On The Wall,’ bound and energised by its electro-pop synth beats."— Clash Music
So What
4 mentions
"The deliciously delusional ‘So What’ does its best to conceal its heartbreak behind free drinks at bougie parties"— New Musical Express (NME)
while ‘It Gets So Hot’ initially feels like it centres on all-consuming lust, the heat of Los Angeles is claustrophobic, humid and oppressive
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
It Gets So Hot
Dancing On The Wall
Eastside Girls
Wannabeher
On Call
So What
Party's Over
Big Stick
Mary Jane
Girl's Girl
...Unless
Why Do I Get A Good Feeling
Buzzkiller
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What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 7 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
MUNA return with Dancing On The Wall, a record that wears its pop ambitions proudly and lands them with giddy precision. Zara’s prose lingers on the album’s best songs, especially “It Gets So Hot” and “Dancing On The Wall”, which she describes as sunlit, sticky and irresistibly melodic. She praises the boldness of “So What” as the album’s emotional wake-up call, and notes how closer “Buzzkiller” ties the themes of desire and chaos together in a fitting, cloudy finale. The review reads as an unabashed celebration of MUNA’s craft, admiring their knack for storytelling and synth-forward production while keeping a clear-eyed sense of emotional stakes.
Key Points
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The best song is the opener 'It Gets So Hot' because it bathes the album in hedonistic heat and immediately unfurls desire.
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The album’s core strengths are its synth-forward production, cohesive themes of desire and intimacy, and strong vocal storytelling.
Themes
No
Critic's Take
MUNA's Dancing On The Wall is buoyant and momentous, and the best songs on Dancing On The Wall show why the band still believes in pop. The title track “Dancing On The Wall” kicks off with pulsing synths and one of their stickiest melodies, setting the ecstatic tone that carries through. “Eastside Girls” is a tour-de-force tribute to what makes them tick, delivered with giddy cataloguing that never feels corny. For punch and grit, “Wannabeher” and “It Gets So Hot” underline the album's sweaty, horny urgency while “Big Stick” supplies the most overt political bite, so these are among the best tracks here.
Key Points
-
The title track is the best opener, delivering pulsing synths and one of the album's stickiest melodies.
-
The album's core strengths are sharp pop melodies, a clear point of view, and a playful yet serious spirit that marries queer desire with political urgency.
Themes
Critic's Take
MUNA sounds both brazen and beleaguered on Dancing On The Wall, where propulsive singles like “It Gets So Hot” open with stormy promise but falter in their endings, and “So What” delivers the record's clearest catharsis. Sam Rosenberg's ear for the band's trademark exuberance keeps surfacing - the hooks are bigger, the production louder, and moments such as “On Call” and “Girl's Girl” offer relief through stirring choruses and slick guitar licks. Yet the reviewer's impatience with clumsy bridges and blunt political messaging colors the verdict, making the album feel uneven even when its highs are vivid and memorable.
Key Points
-
The best song is "So What" because it successfully marries experimental production with genuine emotional catharsis.
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The album’s core strength is larger-than-life hooks and bold production, but uneven songwriting and blunt messaging undercut some highs.
Themes
Critic's Take
MUNA remain vivid and aching on Dancing On The Wall, and the best songs - in particular “It Gets So Hot” and “On Call” - crystallize that mix of propulsion and plaint. Michael Savio’s voice here leans on compact metaphors and queer specificity, so his praise of “It Gets So Hot” as a dripping, vivid party scene and his reading of “On Call” as subsumed dignity explain why those are the album's standout tracks. The title track “Dancing On The Wall” and “Mary Jane” also register as vital moments where exuberance and queasy desperation collide, making them among the best tracks on Dancing On The Wall. Overall Savio frames the record as a cohesive, slightly darker turn for MUNA that still invites the listener to dance while feeling complicated feelings.
Key Points
-
The best song, "It Gets So Hot," is best because it distills the album’s dance-floor-as-confession imagery into vivid, affecting detail.
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The album’s core strengths are its compact metaphors, queer specificity, and a dance-pop propulsion that balances euphoria with melancholy.
Themes
Critic's Take
MUNA’s Dancing On The Wall keeps trafficking in that intoxicating mix of euphoria and menace the band do so well, and the review makes clear the best tracks are those that hide heartbreak beneath glossy hooks - notably “It Gets So Hot” and “So What”. The voice throughout is sharp and occasionally furious, especially when songs like “Big Stick” pivot into overt political fury, which is why the album’s best tracks feel both immediate and uneasy. There is particular praise for how “Mary Jane” and “So What” veil wreckage in upbeat production, making them among the best songs on Dancing On The Wall. The record’s strengths lie in that tension, where pop sheen and blunt lyricism meet to make the standout moments sting harder.
Key Points
-
The best song moments hide heartbreak beneath glossy pop, with “So What” exemplifying that tension.
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The album’s core strength is its blend of saturated ’80s synthpop sheen and blunt, occasionally political lyricism.
Themes
Critic's Take
MUNA lean into party-ready grooves on Dancing On The Wall, but the record often favors style over substance, with only a few tracks rising above the blur. The protest energy of “Big Stick” feels promising and earns notice for confronting capitalism and brutality, yet the album drifts back into club territory too quickly. Overall, the best tracks on Dancing On The Wall are the ones that briefly break the glossy pattern - they show what the band might do with more focus.
Key Points
-
“Girl's Girl” is the best song because Katie Gavin's vocal range and the track's sassy camp elevate it above the album's sameness.
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The album's core strength is its danceable, nostalgic production that suits summer and Pride playlists despite shallow lyricism.
Themes
Fa
Critic's Take
MUNA feel like they have returned to the same well rather than discovered a new one on Dancing On The Wall. Lucy Harbron’s tone is wry and slightly disappointed, noting the album is polished and big yet ultimately one-note, with only “Buzzkiller” singled out as a true standout. The review argues that while the songs are danceable and laden with hooks, none carve out the kind of distinct moment the band once delivered. For listeners searching for the best songs on Dancing On The Wall, “Buzzkiller” is framed as the primary highlight amidst a uniformly bright but stagnant set.
Key Points
-
The reviewer names "Buzzkiller" the standout because it provides the album’s only clearly distinguished moment.
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The album’s core strength is polished, danceable production, but it lacks dynamic contrast and progression.