Shania Twain on ‘New Musical Chapter’: The Ram Report
It’s been 14 years since Shania Twain released an album of new material, the 2002 double-disc Up. And judging by our conversation with her at last week’s CMT Artists of the Year event, the wait won’t be much longer.
“I have new music coming out really soon, and I’m very excited about it,” she told Rolling Stone Country on the red carpet. “There will be a new musical chapter.”
She went on to explain that the upcoming album is her most diverse yet. That’s a big statement, considering Twain is the biggest crossover success in country music history.
The superstar’s new music has been in the works for several years but has hit a few roadblocks along the way. First, she had to have surgery to repair vocal cord damage caused by dysphonia. She also had to find a new producer, as all of her past albums were produced by her now ex-husband, Mutt Lange.
Twain told us last year she’s working with “a couple producers,” one of whom we now know is Jake Gosling, a British songwriter/producer best known for his work with Ed Sheeran, James Bay and One Direction, among many other acts. Twain’s strategy in finding the right producers went way beyond Nashville’s borders and instead focused on her personal tastes: “OK, who is responsible for that song that I love, or who is responsible for this record that I love or that sound that I love?” she told us of her thought process when approaching potential collaborators. “I’m narrowing it down that way, as opposed to by genre.”
There’s no word yet on when we’ll hear the first single from the icon’s long-awaited project.