After nearly 30 years in the music business, Shania Twain definitely knows a thing or two about the power of a first impression.
Last week, the singer unveiled Waking Up Dreaming, her first new song in five years. The country-pop superstar discussed taking part in a sexy photoshoot for the single in an interview with The Sun, calling it “a statement of being comfortable in my own skin and just being really myself.”
Shania posed topless for the song’s cover art, obscuring her breasts in shadows. Meanwhile, another photo shows her covering up with a strategically placed cowboy hat.
“I styled that photograph myself,” she said. “It was all about taking off the bra, taking off the shirt, tying the shirt around my waist.”
And she isn’t concerned about any potential criticism of the images, noting, “You can’t please everybody, that’s normal.”
Waking Up Dreaming is her first new song since her 2017 album, Now, and also her first to be released on the Republic Nashville label. The 1980s-inspired track is set to appear on the five-time Grammy winner’s sixth studio album.
Though Shania did not confirm a title nor a release date, she described the “danceable” album as a deeply personal project.
“I’m really excited about cheering people up,” she told The Sun. “I had a very productive songwriting pandemic period and as much as we were isolated, it was almost like I wanted to cheer myself up, and that just came out in the music.”
Shania has appeared to be on the brink of a career resurgence in recent months. In April, she made a surprise appearance during Harry Styles’ headlining performance at the Coachella music festival, joining the Watermelon Sugar singer onstage for epic renditions of her classic hits Man! I Feel Like a Woman and You’re Still the One.
In July, she unveiled a Netflix documentary, Not Just a Girl, in which she looked back on the high and lows of her boundary-smashing, record-breaking career.
Watch the music video for Waking Up Dreaming below...