This Friday, February 20th, ARIA #1 artist Meg Mac returns with her fourth studio album, It’s My Party. It’s a record that builds on Mac’s firmly established brand of pop-soul-indie fusion, while loosening up and finding new ground. Self-assured and sonically explorative, it’s a mature offering that buries some big questions in pop-song velvet.
Written and recorded between London and Los Angeles, It’s My Party marks what Mac herself has described as a “release of control”. Originally conceived with a “dark, witchy vibe,” the album pivoted in the creative process. What emerges is a vivid and eclectic compilation of joyous pop, underscored by an equally bruising level of painful introspection.
The album opens with lead single “He Said No”, wasting no time establishing the album’s tonal duality. Partially inspired by the airport departure heartache in John Denver’s “Leaving on a Jet Plane”, the song switches perspectives. This time, we’re at the gate watching that plane leave. The chorus is immediate and infectious. “Then he said no, now I’m crying at the airport / My number one is on the run…” sits under thumping, hot pink, bass-driven pop with an almost euphoric bounce. I would honestly require sedation to avoid grooving along to this. Beneath the pop sheen lies a deeper story of rejection and longing. It’s heartbreak you can dance to, though, disguising its sadness with pop maximalism.
The interplay between existential unease and hook-heavy accessibility is one of the album’s defining traits. “Tune I’ll Be Singing Till I’m Dead” continues that energy. Built around a driving bassline, plucked guitars and an Irish lilt, this track sounds like a folk pub standard purpose built for a pop stage. Where the image of traditional Irish folk conjures up a tweed coat, a pint and a pub, Mac trades them in for a sundress, a vodka soda and a concert stage.
From the lyrical self awareness, existential reverence to the enduring human condition and a sense of humour built on self inflicted doom, the traditional Irish folk DNA is still there.
The chorus proclaims “When will I learn / When will I see / That it’s gonna burn eventually / And that bitterness won’t be sweet.” Reflecting on ambition, pride, spite, legacy (even an imagined epitaph etched into stone) Mac delivers existentialist content with an infectious melodic lilt. Equal parts warning and prophecy, “Tune I’ll Be Singing Till I’m Dead” is an early stand out and one of the finest tracks on the album.
Across the record, mentions of time, ageing, mortality and self-perception surface again and again. There’s a subtle but persistent thread running beneath the pop gloss. Mac questions who she is, who she’ll become, and how she’ll be remembered. Yet these musings are delivered over thumping basslines and shimmering synths, thrown back like a stiff chaser to ease the dread of the big questions in life. That same thing runs through singles “Outdone” and “Sometimes”. The pop stylings suggest even if you don’t have those questions figured out, you can still shuffle your feet and nod along without ever clocking the weight of what’s being said.
While the album is undeniably anchored by its singles, the connective tissue between them ensures it feels cohesive rather than episodic. “Valentine” begins as a moody, folk-leaning heartbreaker, strummed gently before blooming into lush pop in its chorus. “Seventeen” injects a flicker of alt-indie rock sensibility, electric guitars adding texture without disrupting the flow. There’s versatility between tone and structure, but enough sonic overlap to keep the record unified.
Image Credit: Heather Gildroy
Late-album standout “Now You Know” deserves particular mention. In another world, it could easily have been a fifth single. Its repeated hook — “It will all make sense in the end, you can rely on it” is embedded in my phonological loop. The closing cover of Lesley Gore’s “It’s My Party” neatly encapsulates the record’s emotional architecture: bright, buoyant on the surface, with something more complicated underneath. Mac doesn’t radically reinvent it, but she shades it with enough self image to align it with her own thematic concerns. It’s a fitting curtain call and a nice wink to pop history.
Production across the album remains polished yet restrained. Producer Nathan Jenkins (aka Bullion, known for work with Carly Rae Jepsen and Ben Howard) marries electronic flourishes with basslines and textural details that elevate without distracting. They function like an invisible vibe enforcer. Nothing overplays its hand. The focus stays firmly on Mac’s song writing and her melodic instincts, both sharp as ever.
Meg Mac may have let go of the rigid, dark blueprint she once envisioned, but she’s landed somewhere far more compelling. It’s a precarious tight rope over existentialism and dancefloor hooks.
It’s Meg Mac’s party, and we can cry (or dance) if we want to.
FOUR AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
It’s My Party is out Friday the 20th of February. Pre-order it HERE
Tour Dates
Meg Mag is touring Australia in February and March – tickets HERE
February 27, 2026 – York Theatre, Sydney TICKETS
March 13, 2026 – Merlyn Theatre, Melbourne TICKETS
March 14th, Merlyn Theatre, Melbourne TICKETS
March 18th, Powerhouse Theatre, Brisbane TICKETS
March 20th, Powerhouse Theatre, Brisbane TICKETS
March 28th, Octagon Theatre, Perth TICKETS
April 1, 2026 – Dunstan Playhouse (at Adelaide Festival Centre) TICKETS
Header image credit: Maclay Heriot
