Wintercuts

Wintercuts (stylised as wintercuts.) is the fifth studio album by Telahphonian singer-songwriter Meaghan. It was released on December 8, 2017 by Club Penguin Music Records and Childpengu1 Records. The album is part two of Meaghan's long-awaited comeback to music after the disappointment of Woman on Fire (2013). Meaghan had not released any music for four years but came back from her hiatus to revive her career. Wintercuts is a 10-track album and is the second installment of the two-part album series based on seasons, with the second installment Summercuts released in July 2017. In contrast with the summer album, Wintercuts possesses a polar sound to the summery upbeat vibes, going for a lowkey, moody sound with ballads and power pop tracks. Lyrically, the album focuses on Meaghan's personal life, particularly the themes of love, heartbreak, as well as her mindstate during her hiatus and the state of her career over the years.

Enlisting DJ Crow as executive producer again, the album also contains production from long-time collaborator Childpengu1, Flipperstomp, Tim and Tom, Shade the Puffolian, Yusei, One Wonder and brand new producer !nstance. Some producers that were present on Summercuts did not produce for Wintercuts due to the different sound that Meaghan was aiming for. It is the second time Meaghan has branched outside of her in-house producer Childpengu1. The album features guest appearances from Tim and Tom and Ethan Dubbs.

Upon release, Wintercuts was well-received by critics and fans alike. Critics believed it be more original and artistic in comparison to Summercuts, whom many believed to be too mainstream and somewhat generic in certain parts. Wintercuts was close to matching the commercial success of Summercuts, spawning numerous hits that carried Meaghan's relevance throughout 2018.

The album was promoted with four singles – "Miracles" featuring Tim and Tom, "Avalanche", "Move On" featuring Ethan Dubbs and "Cold Snap".

Background
Meaghan's third album Woman on Fire (2013) was considered a major disappointment. Though the singles did well the album was not well received, which meant Meaghan was put on hold by her record label and the focus was drawn to other acts. To deal with this she took a break and only made a few lowkey guest appearances here and there between 2013 and 2016.

But by late 2016 it was rumoured that Meaghan was spotted in the studio, and she gradually began to come out into the public eye to make public appearances. DJ Crow reached out to her in order to formulate a plan for a successful comeback rather than an underwhelming comeback. Together they came up with the idea of releasing two albums in the same year as part of a two-album seasonal series – the first of which being Wintercuts. The album was scheduled for release in November 2016 but the record label wanted a perfect foolproof promotional rollout so it was delayed. Now that winter had gone the plan was reversed and Summercuts was made to be the first of the two releases.

Crow was approved as the executive producer for the two albums so he controlled all the decisions and material. After releasing In Search of Lost Time in March he shifted his focus onto Summercuts and Wintercuts. Along with Childpengu1 he expanded Meaghan's production team to include the likes of Zippy Penguin, Ray Kodo, DJ Crab and Yusei to generate a summer pop sound that would be commercially successful.

Promotion
Promotion began in May 2017 with Meaghan tweeting a picture which would eventually be confirmed the cover for the lead single. Meaghan used mystery via social media to generate interest. Each single was released in quick succession so that Meaghan could dominate the charts with simultaneous hits.

Singles
The lead single, "Miracles", was released on November 10, 2017 via iceTunes for digital downloaded. It was written by Meaghan and produced by DJ Crow. The power pop ballad rose to the top of the charts.

The second single, "Avalanche", was released the following month on December 1, 2017. It was the final single released before the album, which was released a week later. The song is a powerful pop song produced by !nstance, Childpengu1 and Yusei.

The third single, "Move On" featuring Ethan Dubbs, was released after the release and good reception to the album on February 16, 2018. Produced by Childpengu1, it also faired well on the charts.

The fourth and final single, "Cold Snap", was released on April 11, 2018 to round off the album cycle.

Track listing

 * Notes


 * "Winter Has Arrived" contains uncredited background vocals by Childpengu1.