Meg Mac throws the rulebook out on It’s My Party, her most joyful and open album to date.
Written between London and Los Angeles alongside UK producer Bullion, her fourth studio album, finds Mac balancing emotional vulnerability with pop immediacy, loosing her grip on control and allowing the songs to lead the way.
“I thought I had this whole album planned out – I was going for this dark, witchy vibe and I was so serious,” Mac said in January. “Then honestly, not one thing went to plan and I was forced to let go for once in my life.”
To celebrate the release, Mac will take It’s My Party on the road with a national theatre tour, with the live shows promising to transcend the traditional concert format, offering a more intimate evening that blends music, storytelling, and moments of lightness and fun. The tour will kick off at Sydney’s York Theatre on February 27th, before shows in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide – see here for details.
Here, Mac unpacks the creative shifts behind the record and shares a personal mixtape of songs that inspired its sound and spirit.
“Leaving On A Jetplane” by John Denver
Love Music?
Get your daily dose of everything happening in Australian/New Zealand music and globally.
Something about the airport goodbyes really gets to me. He Said No is like the reverse of this song, like from the perspective of the person being left behind at the airport. It’s heartbreaking but believe it or not this is the ‘fun’ song on the album.
“And It Stoned Me” by Van Morrison
Thanks to my parents I grew up listening to Van Morrison and was playing this song on the piano just before I started writing this tune. I wanted to write a song that felt like something my Mum would sing to me that I had known all my life.
“I’ll Fly Away” by Gillian Welch, Alison Krauss
To be honest it’s really the whole ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’ Film Soundtrack because I rewatched the movie and literally went straight upstairs and wrote this. It was a 20 minute voice memo rambling about wanting to kill somebody.
“My Silver Lining” by First Aid Kit
I was living in the Southern Highlands at the time and had so many long drives to and from Sydney and I would play music so loud and this was one of the songs I had on repeat. I wrote Valentine and I think you can hear this one had slipped into my psyche
“Seventeen Going Under” by Sam Fender
I don’t really know what I’m trying to say here but it’s the feeling this song has, like reflecting back on your life, but it’s like a mess of memories, a chaotic diary entry. Stream of consciousness sort of thing.
“Nothing Compares To You” by Sinéad O’Connor
One night there was a Prince tribute and I jumped up and sang this song, but it was the Sinead O’Connor version that I knew. I got really inspired by this song after that. The simplicity of it. So I started with the drums, I had this drum loop going at home non stop, so loud and I was just playing the piano and singing until something happened and Sometimes is what came out of it.
“Strawberry Fields Forever” by The Beatles
This is hard because it’s a feeling, a little welcome to my mind. I sing about feeling like my head is full of poison and questioning everything. I don’t know why but the melodies and thoughtswaesaee of Strawberry Fields gives me a similar feeling.
“FourFive Seconds” by Rihanna, Kanye West, Paul McCartney
I wrote the song on piano but when we started demoing it we had it on guitar and I loved it, I kept thinking about four five seconds and how it reminded me of it in some way. I love the momentum and drive of the song with Rihanna’s voice just soaring through it.
“The Little Drummer Boy” by Johnny Cash
This is so random, I don’t know why this Christmas song is my influence but I kept coming back to it. I just like the simplicity of the ingredients I find it satisfying.
“It’s My Party” by Leslie Gore
I remember this song from when I was a kid but my memory is of this lovely cutesy sort of song. I didn’t know until I started looking up the verses about how sad and dark it is. I didn’t know about Judy and Jonny!!! I ended up calling my album It’s My Party because I love the meaning of it when you take it out of the context and apply it to your life. They’ve become some words to live by. Like it’s your party, do what you wanna do, cry if you want to.
Meg Mac’s It’s My Party is out now.
