Shania Twain Plunges Into 'Queen Of Me' Era With A Difference In Her Voice
By Kelly Fisher
January 19, 2023
Shania Twain is gearing up to plunge into a new era as the release date of her highly-anticipated full-length album, Queen of Me, approaches — and the dawn of this new era comes with a slight shifting in the global superstar’s voice that decades-long fans are sure to catch.
Twain, 57, spoke about her music in InStyle’s latest cover story, in the magazine’s special Everybody’s In issue that debuted on Thursday (January 19). InStyle adopted the “everybody’s in” mantra in an effort to spotlight those who have embodied the spirit of inclusivity, accessibility and joy, according to InStyle — and Twain, known for her legendary strides in the music industry as well as being a fashion icon, undoubtedly fits that description.
The “Any Man Of Mine” artist spoke about recovery from surgery that altered the sound of her voice, taking the “leap” to figure out what she’d sound like moving forward, what she learned from nearly losing her voice, what listeners can expect from Queen of Me and more. The album is set to follow Twain’s 2017 full-length project, Now, and Not Just A Girl (The Highlights), a collection of career-spanning anthems that appeared throughout Twain’s Netflix documentary last year (including “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?,” “That Don’t Impress Me Much,” “Up!,” and, of course, “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!,” among others).
“After I had the surgery, I was petrified to make a sound. I didn't know what was going to come out,” Twain told InStyle, referencing two “open-throat” surgeries in 2011 after contracting Lyme disease in 2003. “It did scare me, but I just had to take the leap and make a sound. And I was so excited about what came out. It was a connection to the vocal cords and it came out very easily. I was really, really, really excited. …It's a reminder, don't take time for granted. Don't take the opportunity for granted. It's possible I might lose it, that it may not last. I guess any prosthetic or support that you get that is synthetic, your body still may give out around it. It could happen.”
Adding to a long list of unforgettable smash-hit songs throughout her career, Twain is set to debut her long-awaited project, Queen of Me, of February 3, followed by a global tour of the same name stretching to the end of 2023. So far, Twain has shared tastes of her new era of music, including with dance-worthy anthems “Waking Up Dreaming” and “Giddy Up!” She teased one of the soon-to-release tracks in her recent interview, “Inhale/Exhale Air,” which she wrote after her battle with COVID-19. Twain pushed through and wrote a celebratory song inspired by breathing exercises.
“It's more rhythmic in a lot of ways,” Twain told InStyle of Queen of Me. “That is very new to me, to the broadness of my recording style so far. There's a lot more ‘get up and want to shake your body’ kind of thing. There's still some stomp in there, though. It's almost like everything is there, but a new dimension. I just really want to get up and dance to it myself.”