''Now'' is the fifth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by Canadian singer and songwriter

Shania Twain Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( , ; née Edwards; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her the best-selling female artist in country music history and one of the best-s ...

and her first in 15 years. It was released on September 29, 2017 by

Mercury Nashville Universal Music Group Nashville is Universal Music Group's country music subsidiary. Some of the labels in this group include MCA Nashville Records, Mercury Nashville Records, Lost Highway Records, Capitol Records Nashville and EMI Records N ...

. The album was produced by Twain alongside

Ron Aniello Ron Aniello is an American songwriter, record producer, composer and musician who has enjoyed a diverse career working with Bruce Springsteen, Matthew Koma, Shania Twain, Wanting Qu, Gavin DeGraw, Lifehouse, Patti Scialfa, Barenaked Ladies, Gus ...

Jake Gosling Jake Gosling is an English music producer, songwriter, remixer, manager, and publisher best known for his work with artists such as Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga, The Libertines, James Bay, Shawn Mendes, All Time Low, One Direction, Major Lazer, Christ ...

Jacquire King Jacquire King (born January 11, 1967) is an American record producer, recording engineer and mixer. King has worked with such notable artists as Kings of Leon, Tom Waits, James Bay, Kaleo, Modest Mouse, Shania Twain, Buddy Guy, Norah Jones, ...

and

Matthew Koma Matthew Bair (born June 2, 1987), known professionally as Matthew Koma, is an American singer, songwriter, DJ and record producer. Songs written by Koma include "Spectrum" and Grammy Award-winner "Clarity", both performed by Zedd. Koma has colla ...

. Following a severely weakened singing voice caused by

Lyme disease Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is a vector-borne disease caused by the ''Borrelia'' bacterium, which is spread by ticks in the genus ''Ixodes''. The most common sign of infection is an expanding red rash, known as erythema migran ...

and

dysphonia A hoarse voice, also known as dysphonia or hoarseness, is when the voice involuntarily sounds breathy, raspy, or strained, or is softer in volume or lower in pitch. A hoarse voice, can be associated with a feeling of unease or scratchiness in the ...

, Twain took an indefinite hiatus from music beginning in the mid-2000s, and at one point was unsure if she would ever be able to sing again. Following intense vocal rehabilitation and a successful

concert residency A concert residency (also known as musical residency or simply residency) is a series of concerts, similar to a concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countrie ...

in Las Vegas, '' Shania: Still the One'', she began planning a new studio album in 2013. Written solely by Twain, ''Now'' is her first studio album in which she assumed an integral role in its production, co-producing every track. It is also Twain's first album since her 1993 self-titled debut studio album to not be co-written with or produced by her ex-husband

Robert John "Mutt" Lange Robert John "Mutt" Lange (born 11 November 1948) is a South African record producer and songwriter, mainly known for his work in rock music as well as his previous marriage to Canadian singer Shania Twain, for whom he wrote and produced several ...

. Her first studio album since '' Up!'' (2002), Twain has named ''Now'' her most personal album. The album received mixed reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

, with some complimenting the album's production and Twain's long-awaited return to music, while others criticized her vocals and the album's lyrics. ''Now'' debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200,

Canadian Albums The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Monday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen SoundScan, and published every Tuesday by ''Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding i ...

and

Top Country Albums Top Country Albums is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The 50-position chart lists the most popular country music albums in the country, calculated weekly by Broadcast Data Systems based on physical sales a ...

charts and has since reached number one in several countries worldwide, as well as being certified platinum in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Four singles, " Life's About to Get Good", " Swingin' With My Eyes Closed", "Who's Gonna Be Your Girl" and "We Got Something They Don't", were released in promotion for the album. The first two singles, "Life's About to Get Good" and "Swingin' With My Eyes Closed", as well as the unreleased track "Soldier", were all given

music videos A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

. Twain further promoted the album with television performances, festival appearances, interviews, and the successful Now Tour in 2018.

Background

After releasing the compilation album ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

'' in 2004, Twain released the single "

Shoes A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. They are often worn with a sock. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture t ...

" for the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

to the television series ''

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Marc Cherry, Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from Octobe ...

''. Later, experiencing the breakdown of her marriage, Twain divorced her longtime husband and songwriting partner, music producer

, in 2008. She remarried to Frédéric Thiébaud, the husband of her former best friend, in 2011. The same year, she released the promotional single " Today Is Your Day", which had a moderate impact on the charts. Twain underwent vocal therapy after being diagnosed with

and

, which caused her to nearly lose her singing voice; she embarked on a

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific to ...

and Las Vegas residency before revealing that new music would arrive in 2017.

Singles

Twain premiered "Life's About to Get Good", the album's lead single, at the

Stagecoach Festival The Stagecoach Festival is an outdoor country music festival held annually at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. Various artists attend, whether they be mainstream or relatively unknown, ranging from folk, mainstream country, bluegrass, ...

in April 2017 before officially releasing it as a single on June 15, 2017. The single debuted and peaked at number 36 on the US ''Billboard''

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since January 20, 1990. This chart lists the 60 most-listened-to records played on 150 mainstream country radio stations across the country as monitored ...

chart. A music video for the song, directed by Matthew Cullen, was released in July. "Swingin' With My Eyes Closed" was released as the second single from ''Now'' on August 18, 2017, later accompanied by a music video. "Who's Gonna Be Your Girl" was released as the third single from the album on October 10, 2017, followed by "We Got Something They Don't" as the fourth single on October 30. Two tracks from ''Now'' were released as

promotional singles A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...

ahead of the album's release: "Poor Me" was released as the first promotional single on July 20, 2017, accompanied by an official

lyric video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

, followed by "We Got Something They Don't" on September 15.

Critical reception

''Now'' received mixed reviews from

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

s. At Metacritic, the album received a weighted score of 58 out of 100 from review aggregate website

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, indicating "mixed or average reviews", based on 11 reviews from

. Robert Crawford of ''Rolling Stone'' called the album "dramatic and diverse", but affirms "''Now'' continues the exploration we last saw with 2002's ''Up!.''" Sounds Like Nashville's Annie Reuter says "Twain proves herself relevant on ''Now''", noting the production of the album as a standout piece. " cutting-edge production that reminds the listener exactly why she is the best-selling female country artist of all time," Sputnikmusic gave the album 4/5, claiming "There isn’t a bad song on "Now". In a perfect world this album will pop up on a number of end of year top 10 lists. But as it is Shania's body of modern work will have to settle for being recognized as the best pop-country/Americana record to come out so far this decade. It's a welcome return to form for one of the best voices working in any genre." Conversely, Mikael Wood of the ''Los Angeles Times'' criticized Twain's vocal delivery on the uptempo tracks as "flat and robotic", ''The Wall Street Journal'' writer Barry Mazor says the album finds Twain "singing in a somewhat lower register—audible, but not dramatically different." Mazor also praised Twain's sonic direction saying, "If it was commonly suggested during her hit run that the sounds and video images were manipulative concoctions developed by Mr. Lange, and Ms. Twain was merely his puppet, that charge is certainly well-debunked now.

Commercial performance

''Now'' debuted at number one in the United Kingdom, becoming her second album to top the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

after ''

Come On Over ''Come On Over'' is the third studio album by Canadian country music singer Shania Twain. It was released on November 4, 1997, by Mercury Records. Produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange, the album became the best-selling country album, the best ...

''. It also entered at the top position in Australia, becoming her third album after ''Come On Over'' and '' Up!'' to reach the summit of the

ARIA Albums Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

. In the United States, it opened atop the ''Billboard'' 200 with 137,000

album-equivalent unit The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, is a measurement unit in music industry to define the consumption of music that equals the purchase of one album copy. This consumption includes streaming and song downloads in addition to traditi ...

s, which included 134,000 album sales, and became her second number-one album in the country after ''Up!''. ''Now'' descended to number 29 the next week, earning 15,000 album-equivalent units and selling 14,000 copies. As of August 2018 the album had sold 233,800 copies in the United States. The record additionally debuted at number one on the

Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocea ...

with 72,000 copies sold and 73,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, becoming Canada's biggest album opening since

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

's ''

Views A view is a sight or prospect or the ability to see or be seen from a particular place. View, views or Views may also refer to: Common meanings * View (Buddhism), a charged interpretation of experience which intensely shapes and affects thou ...

'' (2016) and her fourth entry to reach its summit after ''Come On Over'', ''Up!'', and ''

''. As of December 2017 the album has sold 106,000 copies in Canada, making it the best selling Canadian CD that year.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Twain.

Personnel

Adapted from AllMusic. Vocals *Shania Twain – lead vocals, background vocals *

Dan Book Daniel Book (born July 20, 1983) is a platinum-selling, BMI Award-winning producer and songwriter, originally from Baltimore, Maryland. After moving to Los Angeles, he has racked up an impressive discography with notable label artists as well as ...

– background vocals *

Jason Wade Jason Michael Wade (born July 5, 1980) is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the alternative rock band Lifehouse. Career Lifehouse At the age of 15, Wade co-founded Lifehouse (originally called Blyss) wit ...

– background vocals Musicians *David Angell – violin *

– acoustic guitar,

baritone guitar The baritone guitar is a guitar with a longer scale length, typically a larger body, and heavier internal bracing, so it can be tuned to a lower pitch. Gretsch, Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, ESP Guitars, PRS Guitars, Music Man, Danelectro, Schec ...

, bass, drums, electric guitar, hammer, keyboards, organ, piano,

Rhodes piano The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...

, synthesizer, synthesizer strings,

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

*Jimmy Baldwin – tenor saxophone *Eli Beaird – bass *

Roy Bittan Roy J. Bittan (born July 2, 1949) is an American musician best known as a long-time member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. Nicknamed "The Professor", Bittan joined the E Street Band in 1974. He plays the piano, organ, accordion and synthe ...

– piano *Dan Book – keyboards *

Rogét Chahayed Rogét Lutfi Chahayed (born May 31, 1988) is a Grammy-nominated American record producer and songwriter who Billboard has called "one of hip-hop and pop's most dependable hit machines." A conservatory-trained pianist who became a producer under ...

– piano, synthesizer *

Matt Chamberlain Matthew Chamberlain (born April 17, 1967) is an American session musician, drummer, producer and songwriter. Biography Life and career Chamberlain was born in San Pedro, California on April 17, 1967. He began learning how to play the drums ...

– drums *

Jude Cole Jude Anthony Cole (born June 18, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, manager, and record producer. After signing to Reprise Records, Cole's solo career began with his eponymous debut studio album in 1987, which was followed up 4 subsequen ...

– acoustic guitar * Max Collins – bass, drums *Adam Coltman – handclapping *Tom Culm – handclapping *

Eric Darken Eric A. Darken is an American percussionist, composer, and programmer. Biography Drawing inspiration from his grandfather, a band leader. Darken began playing drums at age 12, and played timpani and mallets in high school. Darken attended ...

– chimes, percussion, vibraphone *David Davidson – violin *George Deoring – ukulele *Kris Donegan – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, tiple *Ian Fitchuk – drums, organ, piano *Michael Freeman – electric guitar *Matthew Gooderham – handclapping *

– drums,

Güiro The güiro () is a Puerto Rican percussion instrument consisting of an open-ended, hollow gourd with parallel notches cut in one side. It is played by rubbing a stick or tines (see photo) along the notches to produce a ratchet sound. The güiro ...

, handclapping, organ, Rhodes piano, percussion, piano, synthesizer, tambourine *Peter Gosling – piano *Matthew Koma – acoustic guitar, bass, electric guitar, synthesizer,

vocoder A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''voice'' and ''encoder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation. The vocoder was ...

*Tim Lauer – keyboards,

mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

, strings *

Greg Leisz Gregory Brian Leisz ( ; born September 18, 1949) is an American musician. He is a songwriter, recording artist, and producer. He plays guitar, dobro, mandolin, lap steel and pedal steel guitar. Biography Leisz grew up in the garage band cu ...

– dobro, pedal steel * Chris Leonard – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, handclapping *

Darrell Leonard Darrell Leonard is an American, Los Angeles-based, trumpet player, composer and arranger. He recorded and toured with Delaney and Bonnie and Friends from 1970 through 1973. He is a Grammy Award winner for his work with Taj Mahal and the Phantom ...

– flugelhorn *Kris Mazzarisi – drums *Andy Nixon – drums * Dave Palmer – piano *

Noam Pikelny Noam Pikelny (born February 27, 1981, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American banjoist. He is a member of the group Punch Brothers and was previously in Leftover Salmon as well as the John Cowan Band. Pikelny is a nine-time Grammy Award nominee, win ...

– banjo *

Kaveh Rastegar Kaveh Rastegar is a Persian-American Grammy-nominated songwriter, record producer, composer, and bass guitarist. Rastegar was born in Montreal and raised in Denver, Colorado. He currently resides in the Los Angeles/Pasadena area with his fiancé ...

– bass *Hilda Sarighani Reis – cello *Steve Richards – cello *Leif Shires – trumpet *Spencer Thomson – electric guitar, keyboards *Shania Twain – electric guitar, keyboards, handclapping *Oscar Utterström – trombone *

Mike Viola Michael A. Viola is an American producer, musician, songwriter, and singer, best known for his work with Panic! at The Disco, Andrew Bird, Ryan Adams, J.S. Ondara, Mandy Moore, and Jenny Lewis. His original music has been featured on soundtrac ...

– electric guitar *Chris West – baritone saxophone *Kristin Wilkinson – viola *

Gabe Witcher Gabriel Witcher (born June 11, 1978) is a Grammy award winning American multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer, and arranger, best known as a fiddle player and singer. He is a founding member of the string ensemble Punch Brothers. Witcher and ...

– violin Production and imagery *

Mert Alas Mert and Marcus is the working name of two fashion photographers, Mert Alaş (born 1971) and Marcus Piggott (born 1971), who work together on a collaborative basis. Their work and style is influenced by photographer Guy Bourdin and, together, ...

– photography *Ron Aniello – producer, programming, string arrangements *Giovanni Bianco – creative director *Dan Book – editing,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

, producer, programming, vocal producer *Sean Budum – assistant *Eric Darken – programming *Michael Freeman – assistant *Lauren Goldblum – creative art *Jake Gosling – engineer, producer, programming *Nicole Kim – graphic design *Jackson King – assistant *

– assistant, producer, programming *Matthew Koma – arranger, producer, programming, vocal producer *Rob Lebret – engineer *Kolton Lee – assistant *Jordan Lehning – horn arrangement *Brian Lucey – mastering *

Clif Norrell Clif Norrell is an American record producer, recording engineer, music mixer, and musician. He has worked with many prominent artists including Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M., Jeff Buckley, No Doubt, Rush, Faith No More, Shania Twain, Mick Jagger, ...

– engineer *Danny Pellegrini – assistant *Ross Petersen – engineer *Michael Peterson – assistant *Brian Phillips – editing * Marcus Piggott – photography *Cheyanne Proud – graphic design *Lowell Reynolds – engineer *

Olle Romo Olle Romö is a Swedish music producer, songwriter, and drummer. Romo rehearsed with Swedish progressive rock group Kaipa in early 1982, however he left the group after a few weeks to join Eurythmics, and he was a drummer for them from the mid-to ...

– engineer, programming *

Mark "Spike" Stent Mark "Spike" Stent (born 3 August 1965) is an English record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with many international artists including Madonna, Marshmello, U2, Beyoncé, Björk, Depeche Mode, Echo & The Bunnymen, Grimes, Ed She ...

– mixing *Geoff Swan – assistant *Spencer Thomson – programming *Matt Tuggle – engineer *Shania Twain – producer, programming *

Sadaharu Yagi Sadaharu Yagi is a Japanese-born record producer, mixing engineer, and recording engineer who has won one Grammy and two Latin Grammy Awards.

– engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2017 albums Albums produced by Ron Aniello Albums produced by Jake Gosling Mercury Nashville albums Shania Twain albums Canadian Country Music Association Top Selling Canadian Album albums