Epic Records
Release Date: March 10th 2023
Reviewed by: Joshua Andre
Meghan Trainor– Takin’ It Back (Amazon mp3/iTunes)
Track Listing:
- Mother
- Don’t I Make It Look Easy
- Made You Look
- Shook
- Takin’ It Back
- Special Delivery (feat. MAX)
- Bad For Me (feat. Teddy Swims)
- Superwoman
- Rainbow
- Breezy (feat. Theron Theron)
- Mama Wanna Mambo (feat. Natti Natasha & Arturo Sandoval)
- Dance About It
- While You’re Young
- Sensitive (feat. Scott Hoying)
- Drama Queen
- Lucky
- Grow Up
- Remind Me
- Made You Look (feat. Kim Petras)
- Final Breath
It’s no secret that for some of us, or maybe most of us, 2020 was the worst year ever… for reasons that we all know. And as we came into December and officially the start of the Christmas period in 2020 and in 2021 and 2022 (when COVID-19 was still in full force!), the question needed to be asked was this- how do we celebrate Christmas when the outlook and landscape for the next few years and beyond looks far from welcome and filled with uncertainty? How can we act all positive and hopeful and jolly and cheerful, when inside that is the opposite of how we are feeling? Well I wish I could say that there is a magical remedy for hoping and wishing that things will be better, but a hopeful and positive Christmas album during that time was the next best thing, am I right? Thankfully, in 2020, pop superstar Meghan Trainor unveiled her holiday-themed project A Very Trainor Christmas, and though it’s full of holiday songs and originals and celebrates the holiday and family aspect of Christmas, while only containing one carol (the overplayed “Silent Night”!); the fun-filled and festive batch of 18 holiday tunes (21 on the deluxe edition album!) are sure to bring a smile to our faces, especially as we navigated the holiday season, no matter our own headspace.
Meghan’s A Very Trainor Christmas is an album that you’ll definitely want to spin through and repeat year after year after year. While I’m not the most well-versed expert in nor the most avid fan of Meghan Trainor, this doesn’t discount my joy and engagement and enjoyment of this Christmas project. While you can all read about all things Meghan on her Wikipedia page (which is rather extensive!), I won’t go into further detail of her accomplishments and accolades. I’ll leave that to you all to read and peruse at your own pace. While I also ruminated and thought about whether or not I’ll write about Meghan in a blog post later (and ultimately in decided against it!); the fact that still remained was that this Christmas album gave and gives us all the feels and the warm fuzzies this Christmas and I’m sure Christmases to come. And a look down the track list, and a listen to these songs at least once, brings us great joy as we hear probably one of the most ‘Christmas-y’ albums in recent memory.
The most recent album that Meghan has released is the 20-song powerful pop project Takin’ It Back. I won’t go in depth with this ‘review’ of this hefty and lofty track list (google is your friend, and here also– and you can find reviews of both the standard version and deluxe version to be varying and incredibly polarising!). In fact, reviewing this album at all may be futile or folly, considering that Meghan genre style of pop mixed with jazz and doowop isn’t all that familiar to me. Perhaps me writing this review is like me talking to the walls and to the wind and to everyone who may or may not listen to me. Regardless, what I will say is this. Meghan’s determination and her tenacity to succeed in an incredibly niche genre, is all the more remarkable and commendable, considering that she’s up against many objectively talented artists within the pop category- and yet she still is humble enough to recognise these women, and she also trying to actively inspire and reshape the next generation with her songs, but more than that her advocacy for hopeful pop music with lyrical substance. Most of these tracks are pure pop and melodies whereby Meghan asserts her power and dominance as a woman upon the culture in music which is largely male dominated (“Mother” is probably Meghan at her most intense and fierce, while ballad “Superwoman” quashes the perception of women being able to ‘do it all’, and instead this song encourages women to relax and just be, rather than to live up to society’s expectations); while other tracks like the title track “Made You Look”, “Dace About It”, “While You’re Young” and “Breezy” are songs to relax and dance to as we enjoy life in this very moment. “Rainbow”, another piano ballad, is as inspirational as ever, with Meghan encouraging a friend that they’re shining right now like a rainbow, and so they can believe in themselves because she believes in them; while the semi-facetious “Don’t I Make It Look Easy” peels back the layers on ‘perfection’ and likes on social media, as Meghan outlines that what you see online isn’t always what it is- and being as vulnerable and honest as you can with your friends and family is the goal and is what we all should strive for. “Final Breath” rounds out the album and is an ode to a friend or a lover on their death bed- a sad and melancholy yet hopeful track about the afterlife- and how Meghan processes grief and loss.
Meghan Trainor’s Takin’ It Back and the 20-song deluxe version… is simply a fun album that can be listened to again and again. I’m not really a Meghan Trainor fan, but I’m impressed at the calibre of these songs, as well as the rich lyrical content and the range in Meghan’s insanely awesome vocals. There isn’t much to say about this album though- except for take a listen if/when you have time. Some songs may not resonate with you, and that’s ok; but there’s certainly something on this project for everyone. Will I eagerly anticipate Meghan’s next album whenever it arises? Not sure, maybe not to the extent that a superfan might. But I will be intrigued… and for that, Meghan needs to be congratulated at holding my attention where other pop artists might not have.
5 songs to listen to: Don’t I Make It Look Easy, Takin’ It Back, Superwoman, While You’re Young, Final Breath
Score: 4.5/5
RIYL: Charlie Puth, John Legend, Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift, Shawn Mendes, Halsey