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Tyler Meacham has been exploring the layers of love, vulnerability, acceptance, self-awareness, self-worth, and all of the complexities that engulf them. The indie pop artist wrote about these themes during what she refers to as “a time of grief spent trying to remind myself of my reasons for waking up every day.” The result is her authentic, 10-song Into The Fray album, due out February 25, 2022.
 

Meacham was climbing the glorified ladder of success and able to secure her dream job, yet, she found herself incredibly unhappy. “I followed a very clear cut path for my life — get good grades, get into a good college, pick a major that can result in a well-paying job, get the job and be comfortable forever,” says Meacham. “I ended up in an amazing corporate job that I really wanted to love. It was a dream job. I practically lived in a theme park. However, I made the unconscious choice to put aside songwriting and any dream I had of being a musician for the security of a good paycheck, good job title, and a plannable future.”
 

This led Meacham to give up the job she worked so hard to obtain, move back to her hometown of Richmond, Virginia, and back to making music. This bittersweet reality has now catapulted her to the musical heights she sits at now; releasing original music and performing live — including a tour that had her playing to a handful of strangers in a living room and a sold-out 3,000 seat theater, all on the same run.

Laid on strong foundations of narrative-forward songwriting, Tyler Meacham’s musical tastes and inspirations gravitate towards self made songwriter-producers such as Sara Bareilles, Bleachers (Jack Antonoff), and OneRepublic (Ryan Tedder). With her productions eclectic to the core, Tyler's versatile approach has led her to develop tracks spanning from fully produced pop to more stripped-back sonic affairs. Lyrically, everything Tyler writes pivots around emotional experiences from her past, honing in on love, loss, and her personal struggle with anxiety and self-esteem.
 

The subject matter on Into The Fray is equally relatable as it is emotionally heavy. One single, “As If What She Says,” set for release on November 17, “is a song about self-worth, self-love, and body image,” explains Meacham. “A lot of us have a love/hate relationship with what we see in the mirror. Whether it’s our own judgmental voice we hear or someone else’s, this harsh inner-commentary can build up or destroy our self-esteem in the passing of a single thought. The story told in the first verse of this song characterizes my inner-critic as a mean girl who never sees me as good enough. Halfway through the song, the tone shifts a bit. Although the lyrics are the same, the feeling I’d like to convey is a reclaiming of that self-image.”

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Another standout from the album is “You Mean Self,” which takes a political bent. “I think it might be one of the most interesting and reflective songs I’ve ever written,” says Meacham. “I grew up in a conservative Christian environment, and as an adult I’ve had a really complicated relationship with the church. At some point in my late teens/early 20s I realized how little I agreed with the politics that were being held by many American Christians, and still believe those politics to be in complete disagreement with what the Bible actually preaches.”
 

She adds: “It’s really important to me that as an artist, I’m not just a pretty girl writing pretty pop songs. If there’s a message about something I believe in and it will fit into a song that I'm working on, I’m going to share it unabashedly.”
 

Meacham spent time sharpening her craft by immersing herself in the open mic scene in her hometown. It’s where she met her current bandmates and conceived her debut EP, Property (2019). The lyrically inspiring, genre-fusing project carried her and the band on an East Coast tour, and built a loyal following in the process.

Now, in the wake of a tumultuous year and an ongoing global pandemic - Meacham is ready to continue her forward momentum into the fray of life. “Whether I’m writing a song about anxiety
or relationships, I often start without realizing there’s something I need to process," reflects Meacham. “By the end of writing it, I’ve hopefully discovered something new. I try not to shy away from authenticity and vulnerability in my songwriting. I know I’m not the only person in the world that struggles with mental health.”

With Into The Fray, there is definitely a through-line to take away about how our relationship with self can transform our relationships with others. “But more than anything,” finalizes Meacham, “I hope people hear these songs and maybe feel a little less alone, a little less lost in whatever it is life has presented them with.

Into The Fray is out February 25, 2022.

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