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 The
Shania Twain story has opened on a new and exciting
chapter, and the only way is UP! That's the
title of the much anticipated follow-up to Come
On Over, the most successful female solo artist
album of all time with world-wide sales of an
astonishing 34 million.
Follow that? You bet. The great news for Shania
fans across the globe is that she's completed
one of the most exciting and ambitious recording
projects of the new millennium. Not to mention
that she's totally energised by a fresh creative
momentum that has led to her completing a spectacular
new record, co-written with her husband and
producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange.
Refreshed and ready to rock after a sabbatical
at home in Switzerland in which she and Mutt
became parents for the first time, there's a
buzz coming from Shania like an electrical charge.
"We wanted to put something together that was
bigger and better," she glows, "and the whole
thing is so much bigger and better than anything
I've done in the past.
"The whole record has been made differently,
we travelled around a lot more, we used musical
influences from all over the world. We used
Indian musicians recorded directly in Mumbai,
India, some of the American musicians were recorded
in the Caribbean, a 40 piece orchestra recorded
in Ireland, other musicians in Italy, and we
literally hopped from city to city song-writing,
including Vienna, Paris, Berlin, Milan, Rome,
Provence and The Grenadine Islands. This music
came together in smaller pieces over a longer
period of time."
Leading the way as the first single from this
extraordinary new project is the absolutely
irresistible I'm Gonna Getcha Good! "That was
an obvious single," she says. "There is a typical
Shania attitude in the lyric, a definite female
confidence. It's all about a girl who knows
what she wants, she not only knows how to get
it, but she's going to get it good.
"In my experience it's more typical to run into
guys with such confidence when it comes to women,
once again I thought it would be fun to write
with that same confidence, but from a woman's
point of view. I wanted the first single to
reflect that playful attitude, because I want
people to relate to the Shania they already
know, at the same time as hearing a new, fresh
sound."
Shania is thrilled with the development of her
vocal technique on the album, an evolution that
Mutt wholeheartedly encouraged. "It is different.
Mutt was able to bring out a presence in my
voice that I usually only use when I'm song-writing
with my acoustic guitar. I didn't realise that
I was singing with a slightly different voice
on the microphone. It's like being in front
of a camera, unless you forgot it's there, you
kind of act a little differently. Mutt stayed
on it until he got the natural, more intimate
vocal sound he loves in my voice."
Other highlights on the album? Shania could
name as many as there are tracks, but here are
a few particulars. "Ka-Ching! is one of my top
five, probably one of my top three, because
it does have the Shania cheekiness to it, but
I think it's a pretty fair observation of where
we're at, in terms of how commercial society
has become, almost globally."
"I also like the lyrics on In My Car (I'll Be
The Driver) - 'don't care if you sleep with
your socks on, you can hurt my head with your
favourite rock song.' In other words, you can
be in control of all the other things in our
lives, but in my car, I am the driver! UP!,
the title track, has some really fun things,
'even my skin is acting weird, wish that I could
grow a beard'. One of my other favourites is
I'm Jealous, it's one of those songs that's
so descriptive, you can see and feel it happening.
Juanita is a song I got a bit deeper with lyrically.
In our most vulnerable times, whether we're
searching for strength, courage or freedom,
it's our female power (our Juanita) that we
need to connect with."
"It's keeping it real lyrically, that's just
my approach, it is very conversational which
is very much the way the last two albums were
written and those were the songs people related
to the best, saying things the way I would have
spoken them."
Shania plans to start pre-production for a new
tour early in 2003, eager to make the same personal
connection with her fans that produced such
sensationally successful results on the Come
On Over world tour. "I have a lot of fun with
the touring, it's the biggest reward," she says.
"I can see on their faces what the songs mean
to them. I'm affected by music, when I sit and
listen I'm high by it, so when I see I'm affecting
them the same way, I really feel I've done what
I came to do."
Meanwhile, is one of the biggest-selling recording
artists in the world feeling the pressure of
following a 34 million-seller? In short, no.
"I don't have any anxiety about the success
of this record. My goal isn't to outsell Come
On Over. I just really want to know what people
think of it. I'm excited to get the feedback."
That's why, even with her place in the world's
musical élite guaranteed and undisputed, the
only way is UP! for Shania Twain, because of
the creative goals she has already achieved
with the album even before it starts flying
out of the stores. "Mutt and I as a team put
more into this record than ever before," she
confesses. "We really have gone totally all
out, we've laboured over it and I'm completely
thrilled with the results."
"I put this music on and I'm overwhelmed with
emotion. It's been such a labour of love, and
as I'm listening back sometimes I don't know
whether to laugh or cry."
The
above article is © www.Shania-Twain.com
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