Takin' It Back

(pictured in 2020) started the songs included on ''Takin' It Back'' alone, and she has a writing credit on all of them.|alt=Meghan Trainor, a woman, smiling and looking towards the screen Trainor achieved commercial success with her debut major-label studio album, Title (2015), which produced three top-10 singles on the US Billboard Hot 100. She struggled while creating her third album with Epic Records, Treat Myself (2020), and rewrote it four times in an attempt to respond to market shifts in the music industry after the preceding singles underperformed. After the song "Title" attained viral popularity on video-sharing service TikTok in 2021, Trainor announced her intention to return to its parent album's doo-wop sound on her fifth major-label studio album. Trainor gained popularity on it while regularly sharing clips and other content with influencer Chris Olsen. She used TikTok to engage with global audiences, after traditional methods of promotion were ineffective for her last album, and started planning "TikTok days" on which she would film videos. Producers of ''Takin' It Back'' include Trainor and her brother Justin, Federico Vindver, Gian Stone, Teddy Geiger, Afterhrs, Rafa, Kid Harpoon, and Tyler Johnson. Stone, whom she had wished to work with since hearing his production on Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber's 2020 single "Stuck with U", produced four tracks for the standard edition of ''Takin' It Back''. Trainor would write a chorus for each song before going into sessions, but she doubted the quality. Trainor believed her songwriting improved since having a caesarean section during the birth of her son, as she learned to love her body again after sustaining stretch marks and a scar. After songwriter Mozella told Trainor that other artists wished to emulate her signature doo-wop sound, they wrote the song "Don't I Make It Look Easy". Trainor felt the song would delight listeners, reminiscent of her feelings after writing "Dear Future Husband" (2015), and she decided on ''Takin' It Back'' as the album title. She described the album's material as "big, powerful songs that mean a lot"; the subject matter revolves around her experiences with motherhood and embracing "not [being] perfect all the time". Trainor stated: "it's true to myself in all the weird genres that I go to, but also modern with my doo-wop in there. The lyrics are stronger than ever, and it's still a party." == Composition ==

The digital edition of ''Takin' It Back'' contains 16 tracks; on physical editions, the track "Remind Me" is exclusive to the Target version. It predominantly has a doo-wop AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that ''Takin' It Back'' minimally employs electronic elements and comprises mainly old-timey but contemporarily presented tracks. that recalls earlier styles of popular music, inspired by Trainor's body image insecurities after pregnancy and a challenge from her therapist to look at herself naked for five minutes. She wrote the title track about bringing back old-school music which featured more real instruments. "Shook" is about her confidence in her looks and references her posterior. with gospel influences It is about distancing oneself from a toxic family member. The seventh track, "Superwoman", is a ballad on which Trainor emphasizes the various identities and spaces women steer through. ''Takin' It Back'' closes with "Final Breath", a downtempo love song which Piatkowski described as "moody, ruminative"; This edition also includes "Special Delivery" featuring Max, "Grow Up", and a remix of "Made You Look" featuring Kim Petras. ==Release and promotion==

On May 11, 2022, Trainor uploaded an episode dedicated to the album's creation process, titled "Workin' on Making an Album", on her podcast Workin on It. On June 22, 2022, Rolling Stone announced the album, titled ''Takin' It Back, would be released on October 21, 2022, and Trainor shared its official artwork on social media. "Bad for Me" was released as its lead single two days later. The song reached the top 30 on the Adult Contemporary and Adult Top 40 radio-format charts in the US, and entered digital sales charts in Canada and the UK. Trainor and Swims performed it on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Late Late Show with James Corden in the summer of 2022. The second single, "Made You Look" impacted hot adult contemporary radio stations in the US on October 31, 2022. The song went viral on TikTok. It peaked at number 11 on the US Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming Trainor's first song to enter its top 20 since 2016, and reached the top 10 in other countries, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the UK. On October 21, 2022, Trainor performed "Bad for Me", "Don't I Make It Look Easy", and "Made You Look" on The Today Show. She reprised "Made You Look" on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration, The Drew Barrymore Show, and Australian Idol. The deluxe edition was released on March 10, 2023. "Mother", was sent to hot adult contemporary radio stations in the US on March 27, 2023, and it reached the top 40 in Ireland and the UK. The song's music video includes an appearance from Kris Jenner. ==Critical reception==

{{Music ratings According to Martina Inchingolo of the Associated Press, ''Takin' It Back featured a more adult version of Trainor, showcasing her growth since marriage and motherhood; Inchingolo described it as an edifying therapy session and a "fluctuation of genres and feelings" that made the listener feel less solitary. Renowned for Sound''s Max Akass described it as Trainor's "most complete album to date" and appreciated her intention to take more power over her career after being controlled on previous releases; he considered that Trainor ventured into new musical territory and took her music to "more interesting places". ==Commercial performance==

''Takin' It Back'' was Trainor's highest-charting album since her second major-label studio album, Thank You (2016), in some countries. In the US, ''Takin' It Back debuted at number 16 on the Billboard 200 with sales of approximately 20,000 copies. The album debuted at number 21 and charted for 20 weeks on the Canadian Albums Chart, recording an improvement from her last two albums which only charted two weeks each. It reached number 30 in Australia and number 67 in the UK. Takin' It Back'' charted at number 12 in Norway and number 19 in the Netherlands, becoming Trainor's highest-peaking album since Title in both countries. The album peaked at number 37 in Denmark, number 82 in Spain, number 98 in Switzerland, and number 99 in Ireland. It received a gold certification in Brazil. ==Track listing==

Notes • signifies an additional producer • "Remind Me" is only included on digital releases and the standard edition Target CDs for the album. ==Personnel==

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of ''Takin' It Back''. Musicians • Meghan Trainor – lead vocals, background vocals (all tracks); vocal arrangement (1, 6), programming (7, 16), keyboards (13), piano (16) • Scott Hoying – background vocals (1, 6, 8), vocal arrangement (1, 6) • Federico Vindver – keyboards (2, 3, 6, 9, 11, 14), programming (2–4, 6, 9, 11, 13, 14); drums, percussion (2); guitar (3, 4, 6, 11, 13, 14), bass (6), piano (6, 8, 11, 14), background vocals (10) • Jesse McGinty – baritone saxophone, trombone (2) • Mike Cordone – trumpet (2) • Guillermo Vadalá – bass (3, 4, 9, 11) • Drew Taubenfeld – electric guitar (3), acoustic guitar (7), guitar (11, 13) • Justin Trainor – background vocals (3, 5, 6, 10–12), keyboards (3), programming (3, 7, 13, 14) • Tristan Hurd – trumpet (3, 12, 14) • Kiel Feher – drums (4) • Andrew Synowiec – guitar (4) • Daryl Sabara – background vocals (5, 6, 10, 11, 13) • Chris Pepe – background vocals (5, 13) • Gian Stone – background vocals (5, 10, 13), programming (5, 9, 13), bass (8, 13); guitar, keyboards (13) • Ryan Trainor – background vocals (5, 10, 14) • Sean Douglas – background vocals (5, 10, 11, 13), keyboards (13) • Ivan Jackson – trumpet (5), horn (9, 13) • Teddy Swims – lead vocals, background vocals (6) • Ajay Bhattacharyya – background vocals (6) • Isaiah Gage – strings (7) • Ian Franzino – background vocals, programming (8) • Andrew Haas – background vocals, guitar, piano, programming (8) • Teddy Geiger – background vocals, guitar, piano, programming (8) • The Regiment – horn (8) • Kurt Thum – organ (8, 9) • John Arndt – piano (8) • Theron Thomas – lead vocals (9) • Brian Letiecq – guitar (9) • Morgan Price – horn (9, 13) • Angel Torres – alto saxophone (10) • Ramon Sanchez – arrangement (10) • Natti Natasha – lead vocals, background vocals (10) • Sammy Vélez – baritone saxophone (10) • Pedro Pérez – bass (10) • Pedro "Pete" Perignon – bongos (10) • William "Kachiro" Thompson – congas (10) • Josué Urbiba – tenor saxophone (10) • Jean Carlos Camuñas – timbales (10) • Lester Pérez – trombone (10) • Anthony Rosado – trombone (10) • Jésus Alonso – trumpet (10) • Arturo Sandoval – trumpet (10) • Luis Angel Figueroa – trumpet (10) • Kid Harpoon – programming (12, 16); acoustic guitar, bass, electric guitar, piano, synthesizer (12) • Aaron Sterling – drums (12) • Tyler Johnson – programming (12, 16), keyboards (12) • Cole Kamen-Green – trumpet (12) • Greg Wieczorek – drums (13) • Ben Rice – guitar, keyboards (13) Technical • Randy Merrill – mastering • Meghan Trainor – mixing (1, 7, 14), engineering (1), vocal production (all tracks) • Justin Trainor – mixing (1, 7, 14), engineering (1–14, 16) • Jeremie Inhaber – mixing (2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 11, 13, 14) • Josh Gudwin – mixing (4) • Gian Stone – mixing (8), engineering (5, 8, 9, 13), vocal production (5, 9, 13) • Kevin Davis – mixing (9) • Spike Stent – mixing (12) • Federico Vindver – engineering (2–4, 6, 9–11, 14), vocal production (4, 10, 14) • Peter Hanaman – engineering (4, 14) • Ian Franzino – engineering (8) • Andrew Haas – engineering (8) • Chad Copelin – engineering (8) • Carlitos Vélasquez – engineering (10) • Jeremy Hatcher – engineering (12, 16) • Brian Rajaratnam – engineering (12, 16) • Scott Hoying – vocal production (6) • Heidi Wang – engineering assistance (4) • Matt Wolach – engineering assistance (12, 16) == Charts ==