Cape Breton Post

Shania is back with her brand of country pop

- BY KRISTIN M. HALL

Shania Twain, “Now,’’ (Mercury Nashville).

When Shania Twain declares on her new album, “I’m independen­t to a fault, I know this well,’’ she’s singing about love, but she could be talking about her career as well.

Twain broke a lot of the norms in country music in the mid-90s, flaunted her sexuality and her midriff (gasp) and incorporat­ed rock riffs into her danceable country pop melodies. She’s back again after a 15-year break still pushing the boundaries of the genre with her mix of pop, country, dance and rock music.

Twain’s ex-husband, former producer and cowriter Robert (Mutt) Lange often got the majority of the credit for her previous multiplati­num albums. But on “Now,’’ her first record since 2002, Twain wrote all the songs by herself, a rarity in country and pop music, and her songwritin­g is light-hearted, hooky and inviting.

This new songs still carry the feminine strength and optimism she’s always espoused, with a bit more vulnerabil­ity. She goes from the lamentatio­n of “Poor Me,’’ about getting dumped for another, to “Life’s About to Get Good,’’ in which she affirms: “I’m ready to be loved and love the way I should.’’

The biggest change, however, is her voice, which was crippled by Lyme’s disease. After a long rehabilita­tion, Twain’s voice is deeper with a little bit more gravel tones and that’s to be expected after a vocal injury.

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