When you're a major pop icon like
Barbra Streisand
, along with solo albums, one of the anticipated moves is the duet recording. While it's a concept that goes back to the earliest days of pop and jazz, it's one that
Streisand
has made an integral aspect of her brand. From her duet on "Evergreen" with
Kris Kristofferson
in the 1976 version of
A Star Is Born
, to her disco-fantasy pairing with
Donna Summer
"No More Tears" off 1979's
Wet
, to her 1980
Guilty
album team-up with bearded
Bee Gee
Barry Gibb
, and her Oscar-nominated collaboration with
Bryan Adams
from her 1996 film
The Mirror Has Two Faces
,
has found value in joining forces with singers from across the musical spectrum. Primarily, it has been a way for the singer, whose voice fits firmly in the traditional pop/adult contemporary genres, to access other genre avenues and broaden her audience. It can also just be a lot of fun to hear well-known artists from seemingly different worlds play together. She brought that playful, cross-genre vibe to full flower on 2014's
Partners
and returns to it here on 2025's
The Secret of Life: Partners, Vol. 2
. Once again produced and arranged with warm orchestral sophistication by
Walter Afanasieff
(with some production/arranging by
William Ross
and
Peter Asher
),
Secret of Life
finds
singing alongside a handful of special guests, including fellow icons like
Sting
and younger stars like Icelandic jazz-pop wunderkind
Laufey
. Of the former, she and the founding
Police
frontman offer a lush reading of his
Nothing Like the Sun
ballad "Fragile," a song that is a perfect fit for
, whose voice has gained added textures over the years and surprisingly evokes the Portuguese fado style of legendary singer
Amalia Rodriguez
. Equally compelling is her generous showcase for
, whose song "Letter to My 13 Year Old Self" gains ever more bittersweet meaning when sung by both master and ingénue. Other inspired moments pop up, including her long-overdue pairing with
Paul McCartney
on his 2011 composition "My Valentine" (a song that deserves to be a new standard) and her passionate rendition of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" with
Hozier
that works as a heartfelt homage to the late
Roberta Flack
. While there's more obvious contrast between
's voice and the gruff
Bob Dylan
on the standard "The Very Thought of You," there's a warm sweetness and even a little thrill to hearing the two musical titans come together. ~ Matt Collar