Convenience Big Store: Houston needs more shameless power ballads right now

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If you do one music-as-therapy thing:

Shania Twain and the enduring gut punch of power ballads.

Vibes: ✨

Big emotions. Bigger choruses. Zero irony.

Why you should do this:

This week, I needed to listen to Shania Twain.

Not the ridiculously catchy, uptempo songs like "Any Man of Mine" or "That Don't Impress Me Much" — though I did eventually get to those. I went for the ballads. The earnest, uncomplicated sweetness of "You're Still the One" and "From This Moment On" and Forever and for Always." The kind of music that doesn't ask you to be in on a joke or overthink. Just feel.

I love all kinds of music. I love new music. It's part of my job and part of who I am. And like everyone else, I get nostalgic. But this week was more than that. I've dealt with anxiety that is sometimes crippling all of my adult life. This week wasn't the worst but it got intense. Listening to Shania's songs felt simple and easy, like revisiting a favorite memory.

It also reminds me of my mom, who died three years ago last month. It still hurts every day. I remember her asking me to make a mix CD of songs by Shania, Kelly Clarkson and Holly Cole, a canadian jazz singer who does incredible covers of pop standards. She'd sit in her living room chair, rocking slowly back and forth, listening repeatedly. We played them all at her funeral, per her request. Hearing them fill the church, bouncing off the ornate ceilings, was more than beautiful — it felt sacred, the closest I've come to any sort of spiritual experience.

There's a lot of irony and minimalism in current music. But there's a lot of big, bold sentiment, too. Olivia Dean's "Man I Need" is a perfect example. Olivia Rodrigo did it beautifully with "Driver's License" and "Deja Vu." Taiwanese-American singer Luke Chiang's new album "Typhoon" is awash in pop emotion. And there are few better at it than Mexican superstar Yuridia.

I'll get back to the fun stuff. But when anxiety hits, we need songs that sweep us up, fill the room and let us be, whatever that looks and sounds like.

📝 Our plan:

Make a cup of tea or pour a glass of something strong.
Queue up some power ballads, then send me your playlist.
Venture out to Segundo Coffee Lab or Brass Tacks.

☑️ Need to know:

Shania Twain's last two albums aren't as good as her earlier stuff but worth a listen.
Olivia Dean will be here Aug. 25 at Toyota Center.
If we're talking Rodeo lineup, Tim McGraw and Kelly Clarkson fit the vibe.

Joey Guerra, music reporter

joey.guerra@houstonchronicle.com

Need more ideas?

🏍😎 If you're feeling like a bad boy: "Pillion," starring Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling in a BDSM relationship, opens at the River Oaks Theatre and Regal Greenway Grand Palace.

🌺🎨 If you're feeling like more Frida Kahlo: Brooklyn Rider and DaCamera team up for the world premiere of Gabriela Elena Frank's "Frida's Dreams" at Hobby Center.

🎤🎸 If you're feeling like some rock history: Go see "Million Dollar Quartet" at TUTS, a show about a meeting of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.