by Roman Mitz

As if Shania Twain needed to be any more appealing; we're already familiar with her physical attributes via the half dozen or so videos that accompanied her last album The Woman In Me. Now, on the line from her upstate New York ranch, a touch of laryngitis gives her voice a slight rasp that is positively sensuous. But we digress…the fact of the matter is most of the 12 million people bought her last album for the music and she's on the phone at the ungodly hour of 8.30 am to let everyone know that the new CD gives her fans more of what they want.

"I'm a morning person," she admits. "I don't sleep in so if I'm going to be up, I prefer to do my work in the morning because I don't like breaking up my day. I'm real excited about the new album and hopefully there's something for everyone on there. If you take songs like 'Any Man Of Mine' and 'If You're Not In It For Love', those were probably the biggest hits from my last album, and they were also considered to be pushing the envelope most. I felt that if that was what the fans wanted it gave me a license in my own mind to write more of those type of songs. I don't think I'm necessarily pushing things any further this time, but we have to allow for the album to have some different things that country hasn't heard yet."

The first single,'Love Gets Me Every Time', continues the winning formula that clicked all over The Woman In Me. Twain's producer/husband Robert "Mutt" Lange, takes one part traditional steel guitar and adds some hot electric guitar licks and a big rhythm section, in order to propel his wife's vocals. The end result is a blend that sounds equally comfortable on country or pop radio.

"The album has so many songs on it so it's a lot broader," she says. "The 16 songs allow it to be a little more extreme on the odd track. On the first single I sing the line 'Gol' darn gone and done it' and I'm not sure I would have said something as country as that on the first album. I wouldn't have been that playful with the country twang sort of thing as I was on this one."

All of the new album's songs were co-written by Twain and Lange, and the quality of their material appears to be growing in leaps and bounds. Twain says this is due to the fact that she and her husband know each other much better now, and there are fewer inhibitions. While she's not a flag-waving feminist, several numbers are written from a uniquely female perspective. Some appear light-hearted on the surface but contain strong underlying themes. The songs 'Come On Over' and 'If You Wanna Touch Her, Ask!' are both deeper than their suggestive titles imply.

"'If You Wanna Touch Her, Ask!' was obviously intended to have humour in it, but it does have a message. It's like when you're dancing and a guy pulls you in way, way closer than you want. That's not the way you get a girl on your good side. The song offers good advice on how to win or not win a girl's heart. 'Come On Over' is meant to be inviting in a cheerful, take-a-load-off kind of way. I realize some people will draw their own conclusions just based on the titles, but I think you're always going to get that no matter what you do. As far as writing songs for women, I'm not necessarily directing things at them deliberately. I'm just speaking from my point of view.

The big news, of course, is that we'll soon have the opportunity of seeing Twain perform her songs live. She's taken a bit of heat for not going on the road to showcase the songs on The Woman In Me, but she says this was due to time constraints as opposed to stage fright.

"I wish I was already out there but there was just no time to do the new album and get the tour together at the same time," she sighs. "I'm definitely excited about going out in the spring and we're starting our rehearsals in January. The band is pretty much together and we're just tweaking things. I want to enjoy the reaction from the fans because that's where all of the satisfaction comes from."

When Twain hits the road it will likely mean a separation period for her and her husband. Some cynics have already speculated that Twain's meteoric success has placed strains on their marriage, however, she says the exact opposite is true.

"I think this album has brought us closer together. After Mutt and I finished writing the last album we didn't see each other for very long periods of time. During this album we were together every day for several months, which was wonderful. When an album is written and made by primarily two people you can't help but get closer. We've talked about having a family here and there but we're certainly not in a rush to get started. Of course if it happened by accident, I would make the time for it. At this point I'm very dedicated to my career, as is Mutt."

If you want a peek into Twain's feelings for her husband, give a listen to 'You've Got A Way', which strips away most of the musical trappings and leaves the singer delivering from deep within. She also wears her heart on her sleeve with her spoken introductions to two songs, 'You're Still The One' and 'From This Moment On', the latter of which segues into a lovely duet with Bryan White. In addition to the spoken-word introductions, Twain stops the musical proceedings on several occasions to deliver a line of dialogue. For example, she deflates a male ego with her mocking comment, 'O.K., so you're Brad Pitt' on the sassy 'That Don't Impress Me Much'.

"I sure hope Brad has a sense of humour," she laughs. "It's a compliment to him, actually. A lot of the ad libs you hear are on the fly. The way Mutt likes to work is to let me run through a couple of takes of the song. I like to do something different each time and not be repetitious, so that you have a choice. I'm making stuff up as I go along, just goofing around and it's quite fun. When you do things in that frame of mind you're not calculating things and it's more spontaneous. "

Shania, along with Alanis and Celine, form the Canadian troika currently dominating world music in the country, rock and pop markets. She is at a loss to explain the geographical connection (aside from her joking that it may be something in the water) but she concedes that it is an elite group that is globally recognized on a first-name basis.

"As far as the single name thing goes, I like my last name so I'd hate to drop it. Who knows, maybe at some point it will become redundant or cumbersome. People just become so familiar with you after a while that they start dropping your last name. I think that's how it happens."

We've established the fact that Twain's new album is a solid follow-up to her last outing, that her relationship with her husband is sound and that she will be hitting the road in the spring . There remains only only one thing to discuss…the bod. The CD photo shows that the flat navel Shania exposed to the world, and those well-rounded curves, are still intact. Wal-Mart readers want to know…is this a God-given thing or something that requires a lot of hard work?

"I wish I was as in good a shape as I want to be. I don't have a workout regime right now. I ride my horses quite often. That's very physical because I brush them and saddle them, and do all the stable stuff myself. However, I'm going to have to get into some kind of endurance training before I get on the road. I move so much and I'm so active on stage that I'd be out of breath in minutes."

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