Update: Per the official single cover, it appears there is no “g” in “Moving.” Meghan Trainor’s new single features the title “Lips are Movin.”
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It was a tough call.
On the one hand, there was “Dear Future Husband.” Sassy, catchy and rich with the vintage pop vibe that helped make “All About That Bass” so appealing in today’s music market, the track garnered instant buzz and made an immediate impression on the iTunes Sales Chart. It remains one of the Top 75 songs on the all-genre chart.
On the other hand, there was “Title.” A less slick offering than “Husband,” the track was nonetheless more faithful to the breadth of the singer-songwriter’s style. It featured the island element that she calls a major component of her sound. It featured a rap breakdown to align with the urban- and rhythmic-leaning portions of “All About That Bass.” And it featured a memorable, coyly sexual chorus lyric.
Unsurprisingly, Meghan Trainor and Epic Records considered both as potential follow-ups to blockbuster hit “All About That Bass.” “Dear Future Husband,” which was the first of the two to reach the Internet, seemed like the early favorite, but Trainor recently announced that she was ultimately moving forward with “Title” as her next single.
On Tuesday, she even confirmed that she was shooting a music video for the song.
Plans evidently change.
On Thursday, news broke that Epic was actually planning to send a song called “Lips are Moving” to radio as Trainor’s next single. Insofar as the song does not appear on the singer-songwriter’s “Title” EP, the decision indicated Epic’s desire to jumpstart the campaign for her forthcoming full-length album.
Distributed to music industry members on Thursday and Friday, audio for “Lips are Moving” makes its fit as an “All About That Bass” follow-up immediately clear. An empowered dressing down of an undeserving man who thinks he can pull the wool over her eyes, “Lips,” quite simply, sounds like it was cut from the same cloth that yielded the 2014 multi-format juggernaut.
After opening with a clapped call-out very reminiscent of the unforgettable “Because you know I’m ‘All About That Bass'” introduction, “Lips are Moving” transitions into a rapped first verse.
The first line? “Boy, look at me in my face. Tell me that you’re not just about this Bass.” Not simply aligned from a production and compositional standpoint, “Lips are Moving” pays considerable lyrical respect to the song that gave Meghan Trainor a platform for sharing her music. Recognizing that “bass” became a “thing” late this summer, the song etches the concept into Meghan Trainor’s identity. She is the girl with “bass” who sang “All About That Bass.” And insofar as that girl is a confident, likable girl whose catchy music got the world dancing and feeling better about itself, there is nothing wrong with that identity.
An irrefutably authentic Meghan Trainor song, “Lips are Moving” moves from verse into a predictably lush, catchy pre-chorus. “You can buy me diamond earrings and deny-ny-ny, ny-ny-ny, deny-ny, but I smell her on your collar so goodbye-bye-bye, bye-bye-bye,” sings Trainor with the same calypso-tinged, throwback pop delivery that drove “Yeah, my mama, she told me don’t worry about your size.”
It is at that moment that “Lips are Moving” begins to escape the “All About That Bass” blueprint and begin leaving its own, immense impact on the listener.
Unlike the reigning Hot 100 #1, “Lips” features a formal chorus distinct from the song’s central call-out hook. “All About That Bass” remains on the mind of Trainor, who at one point declares, “I gave you bass, You gave me sweet talk, saying how I’m your number one,” but the singer-songwriter is committed to covering more adventurous vocal ground. Her gorgeous, soulful tone takes center stage this time, and it establishes Trainor as someone who not only knows what to say but how to sing it.
After a pause for the main call-out (“If your lips are moving, If your lips are moving, If your lips are moving, then you’re lyin’, lyin’, lyin’, baby”), “Lips” segues into a more melodic, vocally-driven second verse. Trainor’s signature edge and attitude never vanish, but the song works overtime–and successfully–to assure her voice occupies the conversation.
Due to its more convention subject matter–common to those condemned by countless mainstream songs, her man is a two-timing liar and does not appreciate what he has–and aural similarity to “All About That Bass,” “Lips” will doubtfully make the same impact as Trainor’s debut.
But insofar as it benefits from the sharp, lyrical wit and taut production that made “All About That Bass” unavoidable, “Lips are Moving” proves that musical lightning can strike twice. It offers a punchy, catchy, fun and endearing rejection of the notion that “All About That Bass” would be doomed to an eternity without a suitable companion.
“Lips are Moving” will reportedly impact pop radio on October 21.
