Hot off the press: Shania Twain’s ‘Giddy Up!’

After a six-year hiatus, a new era for the queen of 90s country – Shania Twain – has arrived.

In the past couple of years, Twain has become quite visible in the media once again, featuring on Orville Peck’s 2020 EP “Show Pony” and duetting with Harry Styles during his Coachella 2022 set In a classic reinvention, she has graced red carpets during this album cycle in some truly buzzworthy looks.

Now Twain, 57, is back with her sixth studio album, “Giddy Up!,” which was released last Friday.

After a hard childhood in Ontario, Canada, Twain signed with Mercury Nashville Records in the early 90s. Her debut self-titled album was released in 1993 to positive critical reviews and was good enough to catch the ear of producer, and future husband, Robert “Mutt” Lange, who offered to co-write songs for and produce Twain’s next record. This record was “The Woman in Me,” whose second single “Any Man of Mine” cracked the Billboard top 40 and peaked at no.1 on the Country Radio charts. Twain’s third album, “Come on Over,” was released in 1997 and represents the height of Twain’s commercial success, featuring iconic songs like “Honey I’m Home,” “That Don’t Impress Me Much,” and of course, “Man! I Feel Like a Woman.”

In a brilliant ploy to broaden Twain’s appeal across international markets, “Come on Over” was mixed in two different ways. For the North American release, Twain maintained a country-pop sound, which appealed to the country and pop markets alike. The European release, which would not have been as friendly to a country sound, was mixed to have a dance-pop feel. “Come on Over” went on to sell over 40 million copies worldwide, making it the highest-selling album by a female artist of all time.

Twain stayed firmly in the superstar spotlight during her next album cycle for “Up!” (2002), performing at the Super Bowl Halftime Show in 2003, but saw a graceful decline in success in the following two decades.

As with almost all aging musicians, we, or at least I, must ponder the reasons behind the reignition efforts. Is it really for the love of the craft? Did they decide they want that fourth vacation property in Palm Springs? Did their label decide that, through some vague wording in their original contract, the artist owes them one more record? Certainly, no definitive conclusion can be made but, in Shania’s case, it feels as though she has gone through a personal renaissance that demanded a rebrand and in turn, an album.

“Giddy Up!,” for the most part, does away with any discernible country sound, save for the title track, which I must assert is by far the best song on the record. “Giddy Up!,” the first song on the tracklist, is a catchy feel-good tune that I am sure will get its fair share of airplay at Bar IX and Rocking R Bar. From there, the rest of the record devolves into an indistinguishable flotsam of girl power mush that carries no real punch.

I want to be clear that there is nothing wrong with girl power mush. I love girl power mush. Nevertheless, this girl power mush consists of many catchphrases about womanhood and feminism that have been stated repeatedly at this point, and we are not breaking any ground by stating them again. (I am not just a girl!)

Regardless of my feelings about the hutzpah behind the lyrical themes, this is a very listenable and fun record. I find the only thing “Giddy Up!” really compares to, in my own musical vocabulary, the music of One Direction and their ilk. Songs like “Waking Up Dreaming” and “Brand New” feel like they could be classic boy band ballads in sound and structure. Beyond just the songwriting, the modulation of Twain’s voice is extremely inconsistent, and she often sounds like a completely different person from phrase to phrase. More than once, I found myself thinking that Twain sounded like One Direction’s own Niall Horan or Liam Payne, which I must say was strange and off-putting. Listen to the beginning of “Not Just a Girl” and tell me that is not Niall Horan circa “Up All Night.”

In interviews leading up to the release of this record, Twain discussed her divorce from her husband/producer Mutt Lange, her life-changing autoimmune disease, and taking back her confidence and independence; themes that are clear in the text of the album. However, the songs all feel young and poppy in a way that comes off as inauthentic for a 57-year-old woman. There is a subliminal element of TikTok-sound-ability that shouts corporate meddling. The placement of the best and catchiest song (“Giddy Up!”) as track number one, and the filler, well, filling in behind, adds to the feeling of a lack of care and love given to this record. “Giddy Up!” tries to be young and fresh but instead falls flat, riddled with inauthenticity.

I think it is very unfair to expect the same caliber of work from a musician their entire career. While “Giddy Up!” Is not even in the same universe as “Come On Over,” it is certainly not the worst sixth album ever to have been released. Taylor Swift and Kacey Musgraves (to choose just two) are standing on Shania’s shoulders, and there is no need for her to feel as though she must stand on their shoulders again.