CNN
—
Meghan Trainor sat down with CNN to talk about life after “All About That Bass,” her new album, and the importance of self-love.
The American singer-songwriter joined CNN’s “Who’s Talking To Chris Wallace?” this week to talk about his fifth studio album, “Takin’ It Back,” which was released on Friday.
The album is full of upbeat pop songs like “Made You Look.” But throughout the album, Trainor also touches on tough topics, like her changing relationship with her body and her self-esteem after becoming a mother.
“I noticed that the first few songs were a bit heartbreaking. They were sad at first,” she said. “And I was like, no, I’m happier than ever. Because I am sad?
“Remind Me,” the album’s 15th track, began as a meditation on how “it’s really hard to be covered in scars,” Trainor said. The musician welcomed the birth of her first child by cesarean section in February 2021.
“And it’s me singing to my husband, because he tells me all the time, I’m pretty and I’m like, I feel like with the stretch marks and the C-section, I feel like I’ve been torn apart. And it took me a while to like myself again and be able to look at my body after all those scars,” she said.
The album also touches on “mom’s guilt” and the difference between social media and reality, as in the song “Don’t I Make It Look Easy.”
“My first songs were about being a mom and about, don’t I make this look easy?” Trainor said. “I’m exhausted. And I’m a working mom and I have mom guilt. And I tried to make them relatable and put them in every song.”
Trainor has historically been a “melody queen,” starting every song with a tune, she says. But on this album, she focused more on the lyrics and the message behind each melody.
“I’d sit at my piano a lot before the songwriting session, do my homework and have an idea,” he said. “And luckily it worked every time, but I thought, I’ll do a choir and then I’ll let the songwriters come in and we’ll create.”
Self love is a recurring theme throughout the album’s 16 songs.
“It’s the hardest thing, and that’s why I write all these self-love songs because I think, believe in yourself,” she said. “You are amazing.”
