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In 1995 she released New Beginning, her fourth CD. It featured a pop-blues song titled Give Me One Reason; it didn't sound like anything else on the radio, and it climbed the charts. In 1996 she became a featured act on the all-female pop-rock tour Lilith Fair. Her career was flying again.
The tracks on Telling Stories revolve around faith and loss. These are quiet songs that whisper sad truths over darkly soothing melodies. On one song two lovers become "less than strangers." On another a parent, after a child's death, questions God's judgment. Chapman's lyrics are a strange, sweet brew of bitterness and optimism, elegy and blunt talk. On the title track she advises that "sometimes a lie is the best thing." And on Nothing Yet, she sings of seeing both "Hope fly out the window" and "Fortune walk through the door."
Despite her career ups and downs, Chapman tries hard to ignore trends and cycles. She lives in San Francisco, a safe distance from the entertainment centers of Los Angeles and New York City. She tries to keep focused. "You have to pay attention to the moment and make it the best it can be for you," she says. "Make it count. I've been trying to do that. It's really made a major difference for me. I'm a happier person." Fortune is walking through her door again.