Record Rack

** Faith Hill, “Breathe,” Warner Bros. As the Avis of female country-pop singers, Hill’s method of trying harder to catch top-selling Shania is simply to mirror her. There’s a pop sheen on practically everything here, and more screaming electric guitars and thundering drums than fiddles or steel guitars as she grabs for an even larger piece of the mainstream pop market. (She’s sold 5 million copies in the U.S. of her previous three albums, but that pales next to the 17.5 million for Twain’s last two collections.)

On “Breathe” (in stores Tuesday), Hill’s production team also uses the same whisper-close miking that gives Twain’s vocals such visceral sensuality, all of which reinforces the romantic insularity of the bulk of the songs. Lovers exist outside of all worldly concerns, loving, losing and, in the title track, even drawing breath only for one another. The heavy breathing continues in her duet with her husband, Tim McGraw, in “Let’s Make Love,” a romance-novel plea for a full night of passion.

Hill does, however, take a remarkable step into Emmylou Harris territory with a version of Bruce Springsteen’s haunting “If I Should Fall Behind.” She nails the ethereal beauty, if not all the emotional subtlety, that is Harris’ hallmark.

Maybe there’s an artist hiding in there after all.

*

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.