(For anyone who doesn't know, last Friday (29th September) Shania Twain released a new studio album titled NOW and is currently number 1 in the UK Album Chart.)
I try not to spend too much time with
things I don’t like. There’s nothing worse than just critiquing something and
not offering anything positive or constructive. However as much as I love
Shania Twain, (as many of my friends will vouch for!) it wasn’t just that which
motivated me to write this blog. It was the petty, ageist, and misogynist way
in which both Wolf Alice and NME have talked about Shania Twain on social media
over the last few days.
This week’s
chart was contested between Shania Twain and Wolf Alice – I assume they are a
slightly alternative band, I haven’t listened to them myself, but I imagine
they’re slightly rocky and alternative for NME to be showcasing them. Wolf
Alice were leading on the Monday mid-weeks chart and by Wednesday Shania Twain
had overtaken them. It was at this point that the band’s drummer, Joel Amey
decided to put out on facebook:
“My poor, fat, nine-year-old self had to dance back and forth to
an endless loop of ‘Man, I Feel Like A Woman’ while cursing the name of Shania
Twain.
“Time passes and memories fade. By lo! 15 years later, like a
country star makeover of ‘It’, she has returned from her slumber to take on the
real life Loosers Club Wolf Alan from taking the top spot. Together we can put
an end to this madness.”
As much as NME would like me to treat this as a joke and not
take it so seriously, there is an underlying attitude and dynamic here that is
real. Shania Twain is a perfect foil for Wolf Alice’s “real” and “new” music.
Shania Twain is linked to child hood memories and associated with embarrassment
as Joel Amey describes his funny childhood memory. She then continues to be a
source of embarrassment and uncool by being compared to a clown and by
describing as having ‘returned from her slumber’ Joel evokes a certain
condescending attitude and stereotype towards people he considers old – namely
anyone Radio One no long consider relevant anymore.
This particularly touches a nerve with me for two reasons. First
is my own personal history of listening to my music of which Shania Twain was a
big part of since I was 12 years old, and my music is a big part of my identity
and my collection is something that I am proud of, but was also something I was
bullied over and continue to have the piss taken out of me over. My taste in
music has never been cool. More importantly for Shania Twain is how Joel almost
relishes in his ignorance and insensitivity of her live in these past 15 years
in which she experienced the breakdown of her marriage and contracted Lyme’s
diseases, which resulted in her having to learn how to sing again. Shania
Twain’s new album may never have been made and so to reduce her to a caricature
or someone whose life stopped in 2002 is disrespectful and perhaps reflective
of how we view people above 40.
This was also followed by NME and HMV revving up this chart
battle and pushing Wolf Alice as the album people should buy out of the two. Shania
Twain has never mentioned Wolf Alice at all, only promoted her own album, and expressing
her joy of being able to release music again. Of course this is probably not
the complete Shania Twain and her social media and conventional media presence
is very disciplined and perhaps reminiscent of an earlier time when we did not
follow celebrities’ every move via social media and there was more of an aura
of mystery around them. However this in comparison to the undignified way in
which NME and Wolf Alice have approached this chart battle has shown Shania
Twain to be taking the high road. That’s not to say that all of Shania Twain’s
fans have been behaving perfectly on social media either, however she has not
been involved.
To Shania Twain’s album itself, a lot of its meaning and my
experience of listening to it is brought about by the context of Shania Twain’s
music in the past. That’s not to say that the album is not good music, but to
think of it on its own is disingenuous. The album is called NOW referring to this is Shania Twain as
she is now which evokes the past
Shania and the old songs that gave her a fan base, but also reminds us that
this is not the same. Indeed her voice is deeper and her songs are not as
uplifting and anthemic as the ones on Come
On Over. The songs reflect being disappointed and broken by the world, but
also resilience and resolve to hope for the future. The songs are not quite as
immediate as her previous albums, however the mellowness reflects the changes
in Shania Twain’s life and perhaps in the world since the early 2000s. It
certainly reflects my own changes from pure optimism and childhood abandon to
seeing the world in a more, pragmatic and sober light. Nevertheless, like
Shania I’m still trying to make the most of now and hoping that ‘life’s about
to get good.’
