"These were great songs written in a certain time period when there weren't singer-songwriters, but rather great songwriters writing for great singers," 41-year-old singer-pianist Diana Krall talks about the classic music from the '40s and '50s.

Diana Krall is hoping to turn the timeless into the timely.

From This Moment On, Krall's new CD which hit stores yesterday, is a collection of some of her favourite standards, from Come Dance With Me to It Could Happen To You.

Clearly this music means something special to the 41-year-old Canadian, who, along with husband Elvis Costello, is expecting twins in November.

But what exactly is it about these songs that keeps them relevant in Krall's mind, when the bulk of new music seems so instantly disposable?

"Well, what is it with Casablanca or The Maltese Falcon?" said Krall, answering a question with a rhetorical question.

"Why do we keep going back to Annie Hall, or Hannah And Her Sisters, or other great films? Why do we keep watching them?

"They become classics. It's like listening to Blue, or other Joni Mitchell records. Or Bob Dylan's records. It just is."

Krall certainly seems focused on a particular era, though.

"These were great songs written in a certain time period when there weren't singer-songwriters, but rather great songwriters writing for great singers," Krall said.

"So it's just a period -- why were the 1940s and '50s so great for Film Noir or fashion? That period also was very rich for American popular song."

From This Moment On definitely has a cheery feel to it overall. Krall admitted that's no accident, as the making of this CD dovetailed with the most exciting and happy time of her personal life.

There is that old theory, though, that great art comes from great pain.

"I don't really agree with that, because everybody who doesn't express themselves through art also experiences joy and sadness and all sorts of things," Krall said. "I just choose to express myself through music, so I have (12) songs to do it, and when you do an album it's a mirror of how you are at that time.

"You need to look at someone's body of work. Look at Frank Sinatra, who did everything from No One Cares to Come Dance With Me to Sinatra At The Sands. You just get to an age and a time where you've done lots of records that become part of you after experiencing all these feelings.

"The Look Of Love (Krall's 2001 CD) wasn't altogether upbeat, but that's what I was feeling at the time. If happiness is the dominant saw this time, that's great. I don't think I've done an album so joyful as this one."

All told, Krall was in the studio for only 10 or 11 days for the recording of From This Moment On. There were several months of pre-arranging and post-production, of course, but that's still pretty impressive in terms of speed.

"It's not supposed to be impressive ... it's just jazz, you know?" Krall said. "But we obviously were working really hard to make sure it was getting out fast."

Ah, yes, the twins.

Krall is fortunate to be at a stage of her life where she hopes to be able to juggle her family and her career in a way that gives proper attention to both.

She said there obviously is no doubt her family will come first, but she also knows that if she wants to keep singing and playing piano for a living, professional concerns can't be completely shelved for very long.

"I can't say, 'Okay, I'm just going to take five years off,' " said Krall, who would like to be back on tour next June. "I don't have the luxury of that. I don't have the luxury of not going out and promoting my new record.

"There have been big discussions about what I can and cannot do, with doctors and other people. We're being very careful.

"But as long as I feel good and they say it's okay, I'll do it."