The woman who served us "People", "Evergreen", "The Way We Were" and more than 100 other singles doesn't need to record another album. She barely needs to leave her surely-gardenia-scented bedroom.
But Barbra Streisand, 83, has always been not just indefatigable, but interested: In creating, in songcraft and in pushing herself. After 60-plus years in show business, she's earned the right to drop the New York hustle ingrained in her DNA and take a breath.
Her 37th studio album, "The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two", is that breath. It's a cozy, comforting audible hug from a parade of familiar friends, including Paul McCartney, James Taylor, Josh Groban, Sting, Ariana Grande and Mariah Carey. Even Bob Dylan hopped aboard this love train.
Streisand's new duets release is the companion to 2014's "Partners", with Groban as her only repeat collaborator. While her voice is still that voice - rich in timbre, sleek in tone - she's chosen to share the microphone again because it's a comfort zone.
Some of Streisand's finest work has been bolstered by worthy peers, from Barry Gibb ("Guilty" in 1980) to Neil Diamond ("You Don't Bring Me Flowers" in 1978) to Celine Dion ("Tell Him" in 1997). Not so much Don Johnson ("Till I Loved You" in 1988).
Continuing her stretch with these 11 cross-generational songs, including a pair of newbies - one with Sam Smith ("To Lose You Again") and the other with Grande and Carey ("One Heart, One Voice") to complete a diva triumvirate - Streisand soars.
"One Heart, One Voice" (Mariah Carey and Ariana Grande)
Much as when Streisand teamed with Celine Dion for the vocal duel "Tell Him", this seemed like another opportunity to play "who can run the vocal scales the longest". Instead, this otherwise generic ballad that preaches the merits of rejoicing in partnership, love guiding the way and sacred gardens with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, showcases a trio steeped in restraint. Grande and Carey sing with delicacy, while Streisand augments their shared vocals with her own resonant tone. They're the holy trinity of glorious sound.
(USA Today)
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