When Meg Mac toured Europe earlier this month, she performed in cities she'd never been to, such as Berlin, Amsterdam and Brussels.
As she sat backstage in Berlin, brushing up on her German so as to be able to address the audience in their native tongue, the Sydney-born, Melbourne-based singer was struck by how far she'd come since 2014's self-titled debut EP.
Meg Mac has become more comfortable sharing the meaning of her songs onstage.Credit:James Brickwood
"Being in another country, it hits you," she says. "You realise how far away from home you are."
During those European dates, Mac put into practice something she intends to continue on her upcoming Australian tour.
"I've been talking about the songs before I play them, telling their story. In the past I've always kind of kept it to myself what my songs are about."
This change in thinking was inspired by the response to last year's Give Me My Name Back single. A song about reclaiming dignity and self-worth in the face of emotional and physical abuse, upon its release the 28-year-old received hundreds of private messages of thanks through social media.
"There were a lot of messages from people who had come out to their friends or had come out to their family, and a lot of people feeling like, that was their way of getting their identity and their name back," she says. "There were a lot of [stories about] abuse and people who had come through sexual assault; I would be crying reading some of them. But it was really meaningful."
In February, Mac released a follow-up single, Something Tells Me. Sticking closer to her classic-soul-indebted sound than the synth-infused Give Me My Name Back, it too preaches self-empowerment, as Mac sings of having the confidence to guide your own destiny rather than being directed by the opinions of others.
"I'm a shy person, and I'm a quiet person, and when I need to speak up I often will stay quiet, stay in the background," she says. "That's the thing I'm working on: trying to be stronger, and say what I think and be louder.
"I'd like to think I'm getting stronger. I think I'm getting more confident in myself."
Mac has been emboldened by movements such as #MeToo.
"You start seeing women standing up and seeing how strong these people have had to be to come forward," she says. "That gave me strength. I don't have a story like that, but you get strength from other people's strength and you can see how powerful it can be."
These singles are the first taste of Mac's follow-up to her 2017 debut album Low Blows, details of which will be announced shortly. While Low Blows was recorded in Fort Worth, Texas, this new material was birthed in more organic circumstances in Melbourne, with the vocals for Give Me My Name Back recorded in the bedroom of producer Myles Wootton.
"We were just getting our demos together, and they ended up being the best vocals I'd done," she says. "That happens [a lot]. The first time you sing [a song] it has this magic about it."
Mac will be debuting new material and reinterpreting old songs on her Australian tour. For a self-declared shy person, she takes solace in the stage.
"It's bizarre I can feel more comfortable in front of a bunch of people on a stage than I probably do in real life. That's where I feel like I can be myself."
Meg Mac plays the Enmore Theatre, Newtown, on April 6; Brisbane on April 13 (sold out); and Melbourne on May 4 (sold out).
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