Still the one: Shania Twain on returning to music after messy divorce

After a painful divorce and a supposed farewell tour in 2015, country superstar Shania Twain is back with new music and a new outlook on life.

"I'm definitely more revealing in this album than ever before," the singer told CBC News on Thursday. "The way I feel in my heart is just going into my music right now. And I'm happy with that. 

"I feel good about sharing it and it's good for me, too."

It's a surprise comeback of sorts. NOW, slated for release on Sept. 29, marks Twain's first studio album in 15 years.

The country legend's first single off the album, Life's About to Get Good, is all about perspective; she is focused on keeping it positive.

For the first time in her career, she wrote and co-produced all of the songs on NOW.

"That was a big undertaking," said Twain, "but I welcomed the challenge of that."

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"Just saying 'OK, I'm going to take on this challenge, I'm going to do this as an exercise of independence as well, and see what I was made of.'"

As executive producer of the album, Twain worked with producers Jake Gosling (Shawn Mendes and Ed Sheeran), Ron Aniello (Bruce Springsteen), Jacquire King (Kings of Leon) and songwriter Matthew Koma (Kelly Clarkson).

And it looks like there could be a lot more to come from Twain. The singer has posted about her plans to keep making music on Twitter.

Return to music after divorce

The new album represents an impressive comeback after a tough few years for the singer.

In 2011, Twain announced she would be stepping away from performing, due to a debilitating battle with dysphonia, a condition that affects the vocal cords and causes difficulty in speaking and singing. Earlier this year, the singer explained she had also been suffering from Lyme disease, which, paired with stress, had likely caused her dysphonia.

Twain also made headlines in 2010 when she divorced her long-time husband Robert (Mutt) Lange, who was her producer and musical collaborator. The singer opened up about the relationship in her memoir, From This Moment On, including about the affair between Lange and Twain's good friend Marie-Anne Thiebaud that caused their marriage to crumble.

"The divorce phase really was the straw that broke the camel's back," she told CBC News. "It was like all the layers throughout my life of going through those challenges were just too heavy all of a sudden. And that dam broke, but it also opened up a flood of creativity."

Now things are looking up for the so-called queen of country pop.

In 2016, Twain was awarded Billboard's Women in Music Icon award, as well as CMT's Artist of a Lifetime award.

The divorce phase really was the straw that broke the camel's back.- Shania Twain

As the top-selling female country artist of all time, Twain's successful crossover from country to pop paved the way for a number of today's music stars, many of whom she adores.

"I love the new girls out there. I love Sia. I love Alessia [Cara], she's wonderful. Shawn Mendes is great," she said.

"I'd love to collaborate with Drake. I don't know how I'm going to manage that … I'll get him somewhere where we can get snowed in or something."