The singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor’s previous credentials include being a member of her family band Island Fusion, and self producing some demo albums. Her influences cover an eclectic range including Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, and Bruno Mars. In the summer of 2014, she released the infectious yet controversial track All About That Bass. Although her critics have described it as “body shaming”, at the same time Trainor herself has claimed that it is about “loving yourself more”. In January, she released her anticipated debut Title and so it will be interesting to see how she has progressed with her songwriting.
The album opens with a brief intro consisting of a harmonised, slightly polished acapella, with Trainor singing “The best part of singing at all/Is singing to the world a song” showing off her voice, before going straight into ‘All About That Bass’. While some of the lyrics are somewhat questionable, for instance: “Cos I got that boom boom that all the boys chase”, this track carries a soulful melody and a strong structure. Despite this, both ‘Dear Future Husband’ and ‘Close Your Eyes’ lean very much towards predictability. The former showcases Trainor in self confident mood as she instructs a future significant other on how to treat her, although both track and lyrics are both generic and insipid. The latter track on the other hand could have been featured at the end of the album, because it does not flow well with the previous upbeat tracks.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afx7HB59Wk8&w=740&h=422]
‘Bang Dem Sticks’ is Trainor’s attempt to diversify her palette. Although the trumpets and the uptempo beat would get people moving on a dance floor, Trainor ends up sounding like a carbon copy of both Nicki Minaj and Rihanna, while failing to stand out herself. ‘Walkashame’ fares better on the other hand due to its catchiness and fun upbeat brass instruments.
The album finishes on the follow up single ‘Lips are Movin’, demonstrating that Trainor can write a decent hook when required. Despite this and a few exceptions however, the album falls short of expectations with a selection of mediocre, forgettable tracks.
Words by Ermis Madikopoulos