“I was doing my healing work and playing my guitar, and all of a sudden, this peppy little thing came out. It just started flowing,” says Mandy McMillan about her new single. “The next thing I’m saying is, ‘Just let this motherf*cker go.’ I laughed, and I was like, ‘Mandy, you’re not gonna edit this. Just have fun, and let this be.’”
Music is a form of therapy, as its beats, melodies, and rhythms can do wonders for the mind, body, and soul. A song can also have relevant messages that speak to listeners, which is the case with McMillan’s “LTMFG.” The country-pop single has “quirky and funny” lyrics, as described by McMillan, giving the track its charm. It dives into the aftermath of heartbreak, whether mourning a long-term romance or a short-lived fling.
“I wasn’t thinking, ‘Oh, I’m about to write a song.’”
“I had been seeing a guy, and he ghosted me. Out of nowhere. Just ghosted me,” says McMillan. “And then other situations had happened. I had been seeing someone else, and one of my girlfriends in Nashville had been ghosted by somebody, so I just sat down on my living room floor. I grabbed my guitar, and it just felt like a channel of words out of me. I didn’t think about it. I wasn’t thinking, ‘Oh, I’m about to write a song.’”
It makes sense that expressing herself through song comes naturally for McMillan at this point in her career. She grew up performing and singing, whether she was competing professionally around Canada or jamming out with her high school rock band. In 2008, she opened for Trisha Yearwood and won the Country Music Television Canada competition, prompting her to move down to Nashville to focus on a solo career. McMillan has been busy ever since—she rubbed shoulders with artists like Blake Shelton, Kenny Chesney, and Kelly Clarkson; released her 2014 self-titled EP; and dropped her Dream Catcher album in 2022.
“LTMFG” came very quickly and easily for McMillan, but the production part is a different story. She worked on this song for years, but due to various hurdles with other producers, a final version never happened. “It was very heartbreaking because I had this song that I was so excited about. It was two years of working with other people, plus the years that it took for the last one to get sorted out,” McMillan says.
Still, McMillan was determined for this song to see the light of day. “I saw an advertisement that the Berklee College of Music was doing their online program for production. I signed myself up and went through it,” she explains. “It was 12 weeks, all-intensive. So, every day, trying to learn it and study, and then every week, submitting a project. I was so dedicated to it because I thought, ‘If I can do this, that’s my ticket.’”
“I cried when it was done, just knowing that I did this myself and I didn’t let anything get in my way.”
McMillan completed the course and soon began work on “LTMFG.” When fans listen to the single, they can do so with the knowledge that it was crafted from start to finish by McMillan herself. The skittering beats, acoustic guitar strums, warm choruses, and rockstar attitude make this such an engaging and cool listen, sure to empower listeners to let go of whatever or whoever is holding them down. “I cried when it was done, just knowing that I did this myself and I didn’t let anything get in my way,” McMillan says.
Going forward, McMillan can apply her new production skills to future endeavors. She has plans to release an EP, which will feature “five to six songs that are all written and produced solely by me,” she explains. “I just want a project to go out into the world that’s just purely from my heart.” Listeners can look forward to this project soon, as a release date is still in the works. But for now, they can enjoy the song and take themselves out on a “nice, long date,” which are a few of the lyrics to “LTMFG.”
“I’ve taken myself out on long dates,” says McMillan. “We’re talking a prime, beautiful spot or one of my favorite spots in the city.” We have learned that McMillan does not let others stop her from completing projects or having a good time, so if someone isn’t going to treat her to a well-deserved date, she will do so herself. She tells others in a similar situation, “Dress up. Feel fancy. Go out for a nice dinner, have a nice cocktail or glass of wine. And then ultimately, go see live music and dance all night long.”
But if they want something a little more extreme, they can always take to smashing stuff. This is the concept of McMillan’s music video for “LTMFG,” which features her and her friends enthusiastically breaking delicate objects like flower vases, plates, and mugs. “My best friend in Nashville, she went to a rage room with some of her girlfriends. I would have been there if I was in the same city, but they did it and it just seemed like they had so much fun,” says McMillan. “I was like, ‘That’s what I’ve been thinking of, that’s it!’”
“The theme and the emotion around that music video is laughter and fun and lightheartedness. It’s not this pain.”
She had been knocking ideas around for the perfect video for a couple of years, wanting the visual to hold meaning. “I wanted that symbolism of letting go and releasing,” says McMillan. The smashing of the glass can be equated to the burning of a note or a letter, where the act of eradication can be freeing. When viewers watch the video, they will see this sense of freedom and release. “But also, the theme and the emotion around that music video is laughter and fun and lightheartedness. It’s not this pain,” McMillan says.
To some, “LTMFG” holds the misconception of hurt and pain. “Some people, I’ve heard, think it’s this very man-hater song. It is not at all,” says McMillan. “It’s a very quirky self-love song that tends to drop a few f-bombs, which is very Mandy. I think it’s important to note, when you read into it or dig into it, it’s about choosing yourself.”
McMillan has practiced the art of choosing herself over the years, so much so that she is compiling her findings in her own book. Due for release later this year, Every Single Girl’s Guide to Self-Love will touch on McMillan’s relationship with self-love and how it has guided her in life. The chapters will contain individual lessons or pieces of important information she has collected, along with different stories about McMillan’s life and her self-love journey. She hopes that these stories and lessons will help inspire others to begin their own journey with self-love.
“It just felt like, being a solo person, what does that mean? How do you choose yourself constantly, day after day, through heartbreak?”
Because, when it comes down to it, self-love is what saved McMillan. “I remember waking up one day, I was so sad,” she says. “I was like, ‘Mandy, you have to start choosing you. What are you going to do to fill up your cup?’ It created this momentum for me, like I need to show myself the love that I’ve been giving outward to a lot of people. I need to bring it back.” So, in between the six years of writing this book and traveling around Canada and the US for her music, McMillan focused on herself. “I haven’t been in any great relationships, per se, so I’ve had this ‘single girl’ sense to me. It just felt like, being a solo person, what does that mean? How do you choose yourself constantly, day after day, through heartbreak?”
Readers will surely find a connection between McMillan’s book and “LTMFG,” but if they want more from the artist this year, they will have to wait. “I actually feel so peaceful in the sense of being like, ‘Song is out. Book’s about to come out. Check, check.’ I told my publicist that we’re going to wait at least a year before we start the next project,” she says. It is so essential to move at your own pace, and to also enjoy the ride. “A lot of the time, we’re moving so fast. I’m kind of giving myself this moment to sit, celebrate, and then be fueled up for the next one.”
You can listen to “LTMFG” here.
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