When I was ten years old, I bought my first ever album, Title by Meghan Trainor. After I had become enthralled by her hit song All About That Bass, I saved up all my allowance until I was able to pay the $11.99 it cost to download the full album on my iPad. 

As a kid, I was captivated by Trainor’s signature harmonies and 1950s Doo-Wop sound, and I found myself listening to the album on repeat. As I listened to her most recent album, Takin’ It Back, I noticed that it has a very similar sound to her debut album and it seems that Trainor is returning to her roots.

The first single she teased was Bad For Me (feat. Teddy Swims), the melody is sung more as a ballad compared to her usual pop sound. In every song Trainor writes, her unique voice shines through, but this particular song showed a more expanded version of her range. The song has an overall gospel vibe to it, with a choir singing harmonies behind her voice, and snaps to keep the tempo throughout the entirety of the tune. This song perfectly displays the struggles of having to let go of someone you love for your well-being through lyricism. While the lyrical aspect may emphasize the opposite message, this song immediately reminded me of the hit song on her debut album Like I’m Gonna Lose You (feat. John Legend).

Another track that provided me with the musical satisfaction of rhythmic snapping and beautiful harmonies was Sensitive (feat. Scott Hoying). When I saw this song featured Hoying, I already anticipated its greatness. Knowing that acapella was Hoying’s expertise from his time in Pentatonix, I was pleasantly presented with another song saturated with layered vocals and percussion with a perfect melody on top. 

The second single she released, Made You Look, immediately had me hooked. After I heard the chorus trending on TikTok, I decided I needed to indulge in the entirety of the song to formulate my opinion as a whole. It is one of the tracks on the album that contains Trainor’s slight 50s style that matches with modern lyrics. It is the type of song I would and do play with the volume up, and the windows down in my car. Although it’s only 3 minutes long, it still provided me with a boost of serotonin throughout the entirety of the song.

The 12th track on the album, and possibly my favorite, was While You’re Young. The carefree and reassuring message is the sole reason I think this song should be every teenager’s anthem. It might not be my preferred track musically, but the lyrics provide a sense of comfort and a much-needed reminder to not spend all of my time worrying and to get out and live life while I’m young. The song sounds like it could be the opening theme for an early 2000s teen TV show, and I will now be making it my own personal theme song from here on out.

In every album Trainor has released, she has always utilized her voice to provide harmonies and responses to the chorus; this technique is not one I hear very often in other artists, and it’s what makes Trainor stand out. The most prominent example of this is in her fifth studio album in the song Don’t I Make It Look Easy. It’s another track that exudes the style of girl groups from decades ago, but with a modern twist. In general, it’s a very groovy song with calm percussion and backing vocals that repeat back the chorus, in a response to the melody she is singing. It’s another new song that reminds me of her debut album, and there are many parallels in the tune to her first-ever hit single All About That Bass.

The sweetest song in the entirety of the album is the final track, Final Breath. Trainor emphasizes her current relationship with her husband Daryl Sabara and wanting to spend the rest of her life with him. The ballad executes her unconditional love magnificently, and how even at the end of everything, she wants her final words to be ‘I love you.’ This song wraps up the album excellently and had me teary-eyed by the end.

The parallels to Trainor’s first album and the hints to her signature style in Takin’ It Back prove to me that staying a loyal follower of hers was worth the $11.99 I spent in 2015.