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).
