Trainor back in the pop race
MEGHAN TRAINOR: Treat Myself (Epic) Verdict: Worth the wait — just ★★★✩✩ LA ROUX: Supervision (Supercolour) Verdict: Super comeback ★★★★✩
AMERICAN pop has moved on apace in the four years since Meghan Trainor last released an album, and a wave of super- talented female singers has emerged.
Billie Eilish, Camila Cabello and Lizzo have all come to the fore, and the prolific Ariana Grande has put out three studio albums and a live one in that time.
Trainor, who was crowned best new artist at the Grammys in 2016, has ground to make up, and the U.S. singer-songwriter from the island of Nantucket goes some way towards doing so on Treat Myself.
Beset by delays since its planned release date two years ago, it’s a return that edges her away from offbeat bubblegum pop towards more mature styles.
The 26-year-old hasn’t exactly been idle since her second album Thank You. She married actor Daryl Sabara in 2018 and appeared as a U.S. talent show judge.
She has also replaced Jennifer Hudson on the current series of The Voice UK, where she is a breath of fresh air alongside the more seasoned Sir Tom Jones, will.i.am and Olly Murs.
With Treat Myself, she makes some smart moves in a bid to rekindle the spark she found as a jobbing songwriter in Nashville and on 2014’s worldwide hit single All About That Bass
This is her most collaborative effort to date, with the onus on female guests, including The Pussycat Dolls, Nicki Minaj and rising British star Frances.
RAPPER Minaj adds energy and bite to the sassy Nice To Meet Ya, while Frances appears on the simple guitar ballad Ashes. Singers Sasha Sloan and Lennon Stella harmonise beautifully with Trainor on Workin’ On It, a country-pop lament about emotional insecurity which suggests the singer’s instincts might eventually lead her back to Nashville.
Trainor goes full- on girl group when she hooks up with The Pussycat Dolls, although the raunchy electro-pop of Genetics isn’t a patch on All About That Bass. Both songs make powerful points about self-acceptance — ‘You see this face, I was born with it,’ runs Genetics — but the newer number lacks the tuneful charm of the earlier single. Elsewhere, Meghan trades the retropop and doo- wop leanings of her formative years for a more contemporary sheen. Funk is a dance number, Babygirl a soulful ballad. On the string ballad After You — a duet with American teenager AJ Mitchell — and the insubstantial Blink, her writing is more suited to musical theatre than the pop charts. Some of her old quirkiness remains. Another Opinion feels like a remnant of the popreggae album that Treat Myself was going to be before it was delayed. Lie To Me is a playful take on romance.
On Evil Twin, Trainor even blames a twisted doppelganger for all her shortcomings. She is clearly still a clever songwriter — but this feels like a transitional record.
ELLY JACKSON failed to capitalise on the success of her chart-topping single Bulletproof in 2009. The London singer, who calls herself La Roux in honour of her naturally red hair, won a Grammy for best electronic/dance album with original musical partner Ben Langmaid, but slipped from view after 2014’s Trouble In Paradise.
Now, with new producer Dan Carey, she returns with only her third LP in 11 years.
Having made her name as part of a wave of women with synthesisers — including Lady Gaga — La Roux is now broadening her scope with songs rooted in funky guitar and keyboards.
The beats-per-minute level is lower than before, but her measured approach works well on International Woman Of Leisure, a confident kiss-off to an old flame, and the supple tune Otherside.
Gullible Fool (all seven minutes and 17 seconds of it) is a soulful, mid-tempo piano piece that finds Jackson, 31, singing of leaving ‘cynical street’ behind.
She still looks to the 1980s. But, with the mood now closer to George Michael’s Faith than the electro-pop of Yazoo, Supervision is a mellow marvel.