Song of the Week: Shania Twain Kicks the Dust Up with “Giddy Up”

Mary Siroky
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The post Song of the Week: Shania Twain Kicks the Dust Up with “Giddy Up” appeared first on Consequence.

Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, say yee-haw to a new track from Shania Twain.

In the ’90s, Shania Twain was the undisputed queen of pop country. No one was doing it like her — Shania commanded airwaves and international attention with her blend of catchy hooks, pop culture relevance, incredible fashion, playful music videos, and great vocals. She cranked out hit after hit and sold over 100 million records, making her the best-selling female artist in country music history. To this day, just the utterance of “let’s go girls” can send a karaoke bar into chaos.

The country music landscape has shifted quite a bit since then — the rise of “bro country” led to a spell where female country artists were relegated even further into their own box, and folks like Kacey Musgraves, Maren Morris, and Brandi Carlile scraped out their own (arguably better) corners of the space to manage on their own terms. And while plenty has changed, some things remain the same — one of them being that Shania Twain knows how to make a pure pop country bop.

“Giddy Up!” arrives ahead of a new studio album Queen of Me, due February 3rd. This will be Twain’s sixth full-length outing, and “Giddy Up!” kicks things off in style. The accompanying music video, dubbed a dance video, is irresistibly joyful, featuring movers across demographics and styles diving into the choreography. Twain takes something of a backseat in the visual, but that’s all right — her voice and undeniably charismatic touch is more than enough. Giddy on up indeed, everyone. 2023 is for a little bit of yee and a whole lot of haw.

— Mary Siroky 

Honorable Mentions

The Murder Capital – “Return My Head”

The Murder Capital have shared “Return My Head” from their forthcoming sophomore album, Gigi’s Recovery (out January 20th). When they burst onto the post-punk scene back in 2019, they came with charged, cathartic expression (see: “Don’t Cling to Life”). But on Gigi’s Recovery, the Irish band has brought in indie wizard John Congleton to help re-center their sound on something more tender and carefully composed. “Return My Head” seems to strike the balance between The Murder Capital’s old and new; vocalist James McGovern’s sincerity provides a necessary warmth, but the dissonant guitars and cacophony of noise at the song’s climax offset some of that tenderness for something more confusing and complicated. With each new track off Gigi’s Recovery, The Murder Capital are shaping a fascinating, heartfelt record. — Paolo Ragusa

White Reaper – “Pink Slip”

White Reaper have returned with “Pink Slip,” the latest single off their upcoming third album, Asking For a Ride. Whereas White Reaper have often leaned into the ecstatic energy of ’80s-tinged power pop, “Pink Slip” feels shrouded in doubt and uncertainty. The swirling effect on Tony Esposito’s vocals creates a grunge-like feel, and the band’s frequent minor turns throughout make the track feel more loaded than it otherwise would have. Of course, it wouldn’t be a White Reaper track without everyone in the band firing on all cylinders; here, the spotlight goes to drummer Nick Wilkerson, who provides some dizzying fills at the end of the song. The band may sing about how they “grow up so slow,” but “Pink Slip” is a perfect example of how much they’ve matured since their 2015 debut. — P.R.

Lisel – “One At A Time”

“One At A Time,” the first single from LA experimentalist Lisel’s upcoming project Patterns for Auto-tuned Voices and Delay, is perfectly anachronistic. At the song’s core are beautifully layered harmonies built from medieval-style vocals. As the album name implies, however, Lisel begins to manipulate these stacked voices, reframing the classic stylings within a hypermodern context. Add in tasteful 808s and glittering synthesizers, and the result is impressive, somewhat brooding, and utterly gorgeous. — Jonah Krueger

Stolen Jars – “Adeline”

When an anthemic indie rock tune hits, oh boy, does it hit. Stolen Jars’ “Adeline,” with its dynamic, carefully constructed orchestration, absolutely qualifies as such an anthem. Clocking in at under three minutes, the song moves briskly with an ever-evolving set of sounds as Sarah Coffey’s delicate vocals ascend over the dancey groove. Its energy swings back and forth between soft lulls and rising crescendos, making “Adeline” intensely listenable, exciting, and replayable. — J.K.

Rhys Lewis – “To Be Alive”

Rhys Lewis’ latest is an ’80s-esque anthem, big enough to stand on its own — but the new music video for the singer-songwriter’s track makes it a can’t-miss release. It begins with text onscreen: “I hope this song inspires you to face a fear, take a leap of faith, and learn something new about what it means to be alive.” We then follow his journey conquering a lifelong fear of heights by jumping out of an airplane. Like the song, the journey onscreen is exuberant, optimistic, and visceral. Add it to a playlist and take a bit of the encouraging magic along throughout the day. — M. Siroky

Top Songs Playlist:

Song of the Week: Shania Twain Kicks the Dust Up with “Giddy Up”
Mary Siroky

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