Thank You: Meghan Trainor
SONY DADC, Rs 499
There’s energy in Meghan Trainor be it her debut work like All About That Bass or in her new single Me Too, her amazing voice carries the songs wonderfully. Though Me Too created controversy when her label digitally altered her body image, she spoke it aloud and brought justice to what she desired.
The opener Watch Me Do uses a ‘70s funk with excellent drum fills and a strong horn chart. Meghan coos, “I’m the shhhh / be quiet / I’ve been on a / Low-hater diet,” with reference to bluesman James Brown. The 22-year-old singer has it good with the anthemic No, rejecting an unsolicited suitor, the ultimate expression of female decision. The song fits right in with Meghan’s idea of “women making their own choices” point of view. It is a strong response by Meghan who has written this and all the songs on the album.
Better and I Won’t Let You Down are an interesting duo of songs because of their opposing lyrical points of view. Kindly Calm Me Down strips away the pop beats, allowing Meghan to show her vocal range all the way. Woman Up, is a strip out from a 2014 song by former Pussycat Doll Ashley Roberts, on which Meghan talks about a powerful woman as a “survivor”, a “fighter” who lives by her own rules, and swaps it for one who merely “don’t need a man.” Plain dance songs that have plenty of fun in them would be Dance Like Yo Daddy and the title track Thank You (featuring a bit of rap by R City), and the soft jam of Champagne Problems. Meghan did something unique on the album by bringing in her mother Kelli Trainor on the song Mom, where you get to hear her expressing her love for her mom. You could dedicate the mid-tempo piece to your own mom. The words are simply touching. In Bob Marley’s style of No Woman, No Cry reggae pitch, Meghan takes on Friends.
If you need to pin on some real mushy songs and see the softer side of Meghan, try Hopeless Romantic featuring a simple guitar accompaniment and layered harmony vocals. Those vocals once again are reminiscent of the ‘90s, and the ukulele-driven strumming of Just A Friend To You.
Thank You is an interesting album in that it shows musical growth for Meghan Trainor while simultaneously moving her closer to mainstream pop. It’s not really great, but for a singer of Meghan’s calibre who is still making a mark in the industry it’s worth an audition.
Verus Ferreira is a music journalist for over three decades. He is the author of The Great Music Quiz Book and The Great Rock Music Quiz Book and the founder of Musicunplugged.in
