Mimicking the thunderous claps of its backing track, the music video for “Understand” seamlessly introduces Meg Mac’s dark and daring approach to tune-crafting. Capturing the pop supremo in the dead of night, the visual shows flashing images of Mac as she voyages to destinations unknown, embracing the sinister figures of the nighttime and opening up a discourse that asks us to seek to “Understand” and give chances before passing judgement onto others.

The ultimate bridge to her third studio album, titled Matter of Time, the single encapsulates the raw beating heart that seeps through Mac’s entire soundscape. And, proving so even more fervently, Mac celebrates the release of the ten-track album by breaking it down single by single.

For the full Matter of Time breakdown, head below now…

I had made an entire album I didn’t want to release and had run away to the country to start again, I was terrified. This was the first new song I wrote after months of sadness and getting nowhere. It’s like as soon as I sang that first line I was able to snap out of it and say goodbye to the old album. That’s why it had to be the first single, it was my first step towards believing I could actually do this.

I’m trying to express my frustration here. I was coming to terms with the love/hate relationship I have with my life. How the source of all my happiness was also the cause of my pain, giving me life while it killed me. I was so lost and had somehow managed to record an entire album that I didn’t believe in. How did that happen. I am meant to love this life.

I thought we had finished the album and I was in America shooting the music video for “Is It Worth Being Sad” and on the last day before I went home I worked with Jesse Shatkin on this idea I had called “Understand”. With no expectations, after the first listen it became a single on the album. I was feeling misunderstood and had this revelation that maybe everyone is misunderstood? I thought that if you put yourself in the shoes of even your worst enemy that maybe you would understand.

I have been waiting so long to record this song and finally it’s having its moment. It was a forgotten voice memo that got lost amongst all the other demos. It’s my favourite song on the album. It’s eerie to listen to now because it’s like I knew that something wasn’t right, there was something in the air, people weren’t who I thought they were and I couldn’t quite figure it out yet.

I think everyone probably has a letter they need to write to someone, we’ve all got some unfinished business. It’s sad to me because I think about the people who aren’t in my life anymore and wish I could reach out and explain. I wonder if I had been able to say what I needed to say would they still be around?

The weirdest and coolest song on the album. I love singing the verses, it’s like I’m chucking a tantrum and it feels so good to just let it out like that. I didn’t really analyse the lyrics as I was writing them but now I’m thinking it’s my bratty moment but it’s also kind of sweet. I LOVE the production on this one, The Donuts transformed this one and turned it upside down.

This song is the only survivor from the album I threw away. It’s the most important song on the album and sits right between the old and the new. I find it spooky because everything I wrote came true, it was only a matter of time before I was going to snap. Somehow I knew I was about to reach breaking point and then I did.

I sing this with my sister Hannah on the album. It wasn’t part of the plan but we started playing it live on tour before I’d recorded it (she is in my band) We would sit on the edge of the stage facing each other as we sang and it became this really special moment. Then I had to have her sing it with me just like that on the album.

My rock bottom. My crying on the floor moment. I think that kind of sums this one up, I was so defeated and just praying for a sign. I almost wanted to release the voice memo of me writing this one, it broke my heart when I heard it again. The album version has a little more style though.

Sometimes I think if I just rest my head and take a nap that my problems might not be there when I wake up. I wrote this during a time when a notification on my phone would send me into a panic and it was all too much. A simple head on a pillow was my remedy and escape from reality.