NO SOPHOMORE slump for Meghan Trainor.
After a Hot 100 megahit like “All About That Bass,” what does Meghan Trainor do for an encore? Nothing much, apparently—or at least that’s what Epic Records head honcho LA Reid told Meghan the first time she presented her lineup for her sophomore album, “Thank You.”
The songs in the repertoire were radio-friendly, all right, but it lacked a suitable lead single that could build upon the enormous success of her first smash hit. “You can do better,” she was told. Her answer: “I’m not going to write ‘All About That Bass, 2.0.’”
Was the 22-year-old pop songstress going through the dreaded sophomore slump?
The answer came much later, after she left the meeting with Reid feeling angry. Thereafter, Meghan channeled her frustration into what turned out to be her stubborn reaction and defiant reply to the temporary artistic “road block.”
“No,” the song that came out of that uncomfortable interaction with her boss, has transmogrified into a scorching and hook-heavy female empowerment anthem that fuses singing and ’90s-style rhyming.
It’s about a woman who refuses to play along an indecisive suitor’s flirtatious games. So, she takes the thematic bull by the horns and admonishes the guy to man up—and do things her way!
Keith sings with Carrie
REFRESHING change of pace for Keith Urban.
Keith Urban fights just as hard, but this time, for the love of his life in “The Fighter”—a noteworthy dance number from his ninth studio album, “Ripcord.”
The track tells the story of a man reassuring a woman who’s reluctant to fall in love again after getting burned by a duplicitous former lover.
The song provides a refreshing change of musical pace for Keith, who sings, sways and swings to the upbeat dance number’s rhythmic, toe-tapping patter with persuasive, counterpointing gusto with his guest vocalist, fellow country superstar Carrie Underwood.
If you like Keith’s hefty, pitch-perfect voice but aren’t too hot about country music, you’ll be pleased to hear that the song is more pop than country—although its string-garnished sections indubitably channel the formidable duo’s deep-rooted country roots.