After more than three decades in country music, Shania Twain remains one of the most well-respected artists in the genre. She has sold a total of 85 million albums over the course of her career, earning her the distinction as the best-selling female artist in country music history. Her 1997 album, Come On Over, is the best-selling country album of all time, and the sixth best-selling album overall in the United States.
Basically, it goes without saying that there are a lot of people out there who love listening to Twain’s albums. But for the past 14 years, fans have been left without any new music from Twain. Her latest release was Up!, which went on to earn Diamond certification from the RIAA.
Twain’s fans have remained patient over the years, never giving up hope that she would announce the release of a new album. Finally, Twain revealed during the CMT Artists of the Year special in October that new music is on its way.
“I have new music coming out really soon, and I’m very excited about it,” she told Rolling Stone. “There will be a new musical chapter.”
Twain’s announcement sent a flurry of excitement through the country community, leaving fans anxious to hear more about the new album. Months later, she finally spilled a few details about the project to Billboard during an interview for its Women in Music special.
Working on this new album has been an emotional process for Twain. Three of her four albums were produced by Robert “Mutt” Lange, who was also her husband at the time. However, the couple split in 2008 after Twain discovered that Lange had been having an affair with her best friend. For the first time in years, Twain is working on an album without Lange as her producer, something that has been a scary experience for her.
“It was a big leap of courage for me,” she says. “I didn’t know where to begin. I’d write every type of song, every type of lyric, every type of melody. Who is going to say, ‘All right, let’s hone in on this style?’ I didn’t have that direction, whereas with Mutt I did.”
Since Twain’s last album was released prior to her divorce, that time in her life will be addressed on her upcoming album. But she said that fans shouldn’t expect a “woman scorned” type of feeling to the material. Rather, she says that the album deals with pain more so than any other emotion.
“I talk a lot more about pain,” she said, “but I didn’t feel the need to be that literal about anger or hate. It’s very triumphant in the end. I felt like, ‘Whew! I made it through the album! I made it through writing all the songs!’ It was an emotional roller coaster, and the lyrics reflect that.”
As for where Twain did most of that writing? Well, it turns out that she actually thinks best in some of the most unusual places.
“I do most of my writing in the bathroom,” she said. “Or in the basement. Or on the beach. It’s a strange thing, but I do need that isolation. I need to feel alone and intimate with my thoughts.”
Based on everything that Twain has done in the past, we have a feeling this upcoming album will be filled with incredible music. While you wait for Twain to finally release her new record, enjoy one of her biggest hits in the clip below.