- On June 7, 2024, songwriter and pop performer Meghan Trainor will release her sixth studio album, “Timeless.”
- Trainor was excited to record the album’s first single, “Been Like This,” with her idol T-Pain. She says she’s still writing songs about self-love just like she did when she first started, but now with the perspective of a mother, sister and industry veteran.
- Trainor titled the album “Timeless” to express her fear of death: instead of worrying about running out of time, she wants to cherish the time she has with her family.
Ten years ago, Meghan Trainor was a successful songwriter and soon-to-be pop sensation. “All About That Bass” established the then-20-year-old as a force to be reckoned with, with a command of an older sound (mixing doo-wop with modern pop in an era dominated by big synths). Her public persona was intertwined with the song’s lyrics about body acceptance.
“I have self-love pop bangers that I sing to myself in my sleep,” she told The Associated Press. “It’s the therapy I need, but it also helps people, so it’s a win-win for me as a songwriter.”
On Friday, Trainor will release her sixth studio album, “Timeless,” and while that message of empowerment is still at the heart of her distinctive sound, she’s now matured it to fit her current situation in life as a mother, a sister and an industry veteran.
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The first single, “Been Like This,” featuring her hero T-Pain, also references “All About That Bass,” as she sings, “Wow, she got that ass/That type of bum bum, that bass I like.”
Who would have thought this would be the first single? She called it “fate,” and was quick to mention that her two brothers also wrote the song. “My mom was sobbing. My dad was crying, like, he must not have known who T-Pain was until I kept telling him about him,” she says.
Family is at the heart of “Timeless” and the music Trainor makes, and as a mother of two boys, she keeps them in mind in everything she does.
Meghan Trainor appears on NBC’s Today Show at Rockefeller Plaza in New York City on Oct. 21, 2022. Trainor is set to release her sixth studio album, “Timeless,” on Friday. (Charles Sykes/InVision/AP, File)
“I wrote ‘To the Moon’ for my son, he loves rockets and space,” she says of 3-year-old Barry Bruce Trainor. “A lot of the song was inspired by my boys, and I want to give them songs that teach them how to love themselves as they grow up – to be confident and kind to themselves.”
Of course, it’s also a song for the listeners. “I Wanna Thank Me” references Niecy Nash-Betts’ acceptance speech at the 2024 Emmy Awards, in which she said, “You know who I want to thank? For believing in me and doing something that people told me I couldn’t do. I want to say to myself, in front of all you beautiful people, go for it, your shitty self. You did it.”
“I’d been writing confident bangers, and this was one of the last songs I wrote for the album,” she says, adding that after a while she didn’t know what else to write. Then her manager sent her Nash’s speech, which was instantly inspirational. The day after she wrote it, Trainor sent it to Nash, who filmed himself crying while listening to it.
“I had Niecy and her daughter and her wife come on and sing on the album and also sing backing vocals on the songs,” she added, “so when you hear that big vocal at the end with all the ladies singing, that’s us.”
“Rollin'” features plenty of strings, brass and bass, and also has a sort of feminist message. Trainor says it was inspired by her own experiences in the music industry, including her manager being called an assistant because she was a woman. “If there are more women in the music industry, anywhere, it’s gross,” she says.
To stay calm in this line of work, she says simply: “I’m on antidepressants. After I had my second baby, I wasn’t getting enough sleep, so I’m on medication and I see a therapist. I try to see my therapist every Wednesday. And when I’m feeling overwhelmed, I vocalize a lot.”
It’s a reference to the album: The title “Timeless” comes from Trainor’s “big, big, big, big fear of death.”
“When you have kids, you’re like, ‘Oh, this is the meaning of life. I have to be here forever,'” she says. “Instead of living in fear every morning, noon and night, I want to live. I want to be like, ‘Wow, we’re so lucky, we’re here, we’re going to be together forever.’ So I’m trying to understand the meaning of the word ‘timeless.'”
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This fall, Trainor will be touring for the first time in seven years, and her first since becoming a mother. “I’m in the gym like an Olympian,” she jokes. “I’ll start working out when I’m in amazing shape.” Although singing and dancing aren’t easy, she says, “I want to dance a lot.”
Beyond that, her goal is to put on a great show and involve families every step of the way. “We’re trying to make it fun, so that there’s something fun to do with the kids in each state,” she says. “It’s going to be awesome. We’ve set it up so that you can’t help but have fun.”
And maybe even create memories that will last forever?
