In the foreword to their book Surviving Autocracy , the journalist M. Gessen cites philosopher Hannah Arendt’s writing on totalitarianism. In order to succeed, Arendt theorizes, autocratic leaders need a population that’s two things: gullible and cynical. Fighting against fascism, then, requires rigor, skepticism, a belief in human dignity. Perhaps this is not the source material you’d expect to have inspired the latest album by a synth-pop group that’s become known, in its members’ own words , as “the ‘queer joy mini-skirt rollerblade’ band.” MUNA —the trio of Katie Gavin, Naomi McPherson, and Josette Maskin—earned that reputation thanks to the runaway success of their 2021 hit “Silk Chiffon,” the opening track of their ebullient, sparkly self-titled third album , from 2022. But when Gavin was asked about making Dancing on the Wall , the band’s latest—and about making queer, libidinous music in an increasingly puritanical era more generally—she cited Gessen’s book.…