Meghan Trainor’s third studio album Treat Myself is finally here and it was well worth the wait, especially for the songstress, whose journey to completing the 15-track album was filled with highs and lows.
“I’ve been working on it forever, for awhile, and it got pushed for a lot of reasons, but there’s like six songs on there that I wouldn’t have if I didn’t push it for this long so like [it was] worth it,” Trainor told Ryan Seacrest when she stopped by the studio on Friday, January 31. “…They kept telling me ‘Meghan Trainor can beat this’ … and it’s a hard thing to hear, but it’s also the best and it was always the right decision and I’m obviously going to get better the more you practice at your craft and I got better and they were right.”
Meghan added that she was also “going through stuff” which delayed the album from its original 2018 release.
“I started with this crazy anxiety that was kind of crippling at one point and then I got engaged … and then I got married … and then I kept writing and writing and I wrote too many love songs and then I wrote self-care love songs and self-empowering songs and [then the Nicki Minaj collab ‘Nice to Meet Ya’] was my last like big anthem … and I was like, ‘OK, this is my album. I’m done.’”
The “Ashes” singer candidly recalled that it also took a minute to overcome her anxiety and learn how to ask for help.
“Asking for help [helped] cause in the moment I was uneducated how it would feel like so I thought I was like schizophrenic,” Meghan shared. “I thought I was like losing my mind and you feel like you’re all alone and that no one has ever felt like this and you’re kind of scared to admit to someone like ‘Hey, the colors in the room are changing and I feel like I’m vibrating at all times and I can’t make it stop’ so it’s hard to come up and say ‘Help!’”
The “Babygirl” songstress at first thought she was having an allergic reaction before she realized they were panic attacks.
“I went to the emergency room and I was like ‘I’m having an allergic reaction and my throat is closing,’” she recalled. “Like my back would be on fire and I’d have a fever but I had no temperature. ... They would feel me and be like ‘You’re burning.’ Your brain can change all the chemicals in your body,” she explained, revealing she’s also sought help from Dr. Phil.
The scary, debilitating experience however did indeed bring her to name her album Treat Myself.
“I met so many doctors; I got acupuncture; I did it all. I was like ‘Help!’ And then when I heard people talk about their experiences, that made me feel better. ... And then my therapist — when I got though it — she was like, 'You should treat yourself. Like, You look great! You should do something nice to yourself. This was hard to get through.’ And I was like you’re right! I’m gonna treat myself! And then I wrote a song called ‘Treat Myself.'"
The “Wave” singer, who also admitted she wants twins with husband Daryl Sabara and is ready to grow their family following her tour with Maroon 5, concluded that she also bought herself a Tesla and she’s on the mend, learning how to manage her time and happiness.
“I take more time off for myself,” she concluded. “I speak up.”
Watch back the full interview in the video above and stream Meghan’s album Treat Myself out now!