Q&A: Shania talks of renewed confidence
Singer has a surgically repaired voice after long illness.
LOS ANGELES — Shania Twain felt the need on her new album to empower herself the same way she has uplifted listeners with hits like “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” and “She’s Not Just a Pretty Face.”
So she set aside all feelings of self consciousness — appearing braless for the album’s artwork and letting listeners unabashedly hear her surgically repaired voice — on “Queen of Me.” Throughout the album’s 12 tracks, the 57-yearold country pop superstar confronts her physical vulnerabilities with authority in ways meant to uplift fans, and herself.
Twain’s sixth studio album is her first since having open-throat surgery in 2018 to strengthen her vocal muscles after a long battle with Lyme disease. During the pandemic, the singer said she went into her “writing cave” at home to hone her songwriting skills and penned three albums worth of music with a clear understanding that her powerful vocals might not last forever.
In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Twain spoke candidly about the album, which was released on Friday, regaining her confidence, singing during throat surgery and preparing for her global upcoming tour, which kicks off April 28.
AP: How do you define your new album, “Queen of Me”?
TWAIN: Self empowerment is about managing your mindset. Controlling your own mood. Your frame of mind. It just turned into “Queen of Me.” I’m my own boss. I’m the boss of me. I have to tell myself how to think. What to think. It became the theme of the whole album. It ended up representing that uplifting mode of myself.
AP: Before I listened to your album, I was expecting ballads. But it’s a more upbeat experience. What made you choose that route?
TWAIN: It was all happening in a mode of lifting my own spirit up. I wanted music that was going to make me want to dance. Even some of the songs that are a little more, for example, “Brand New Me” or “Pretty Liar.” Those are songs that would have maybe stayed more in the melancholy vibe more ballady. But because I was really relying on my songwriting during that time to make me feel a positive energy, everything pretty much turned into this more poppy, dancey, beatdriven, upbeat-driven sounding album.”
AP: You seem liberated on your album cover. Was that your intent?
TWAIN: That was the entire intention. You know, throw away the bra. I did a lot of nude photography in that session. That’s