REVIEW: GWEN STEFANI - BOUQUET

3.5/5

Orange Blossom Special

Without a shadow of a doubt, Gwen Stefani joins not only Dolly Parton, Mary J. Blige, St. Vincent, Jon Batiste, the new Linkin Park and Jin of Korean super pop group in the biggest New Music Friday this month, gearing up for those Christmas come early sales. But also, (like Dolly, MJB, Annie Clark and the new Emily Armstrong fronted Linkin Park LP), Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Halsey, Maggie Rogers, Norah Jones, Maya Hawke, Willow and fellow 90s to new millennium luminaries, Nelly Furtado, Katy Perry and the 'Evolution' of Sheryl Crow, in another amazing year for women in pop music. All for a beautiful 'Bouquet' in Orange Country rosé wine bloom. Stefani's new album, this fall, and first since her 'You Make It Feel Like Christmas' miracle of 2017.

'Harajuku Lovers', this is far from 'The Sweet Escape' of an Akon hook, or her classic solo debut, 'Love. Angel. Music. Baby', hollering back, girl. That was twenty years ago, if you can feel really old yet and believe it. No doubt about it, she's on a different tip with the stem of these songs, and if we clutch too much at the oranges of the band getting back together, then we really will be heading for a tragic kingdom. Instead, do speak on how Gwen Stefani's first solo studio sound (minus the mistletoe) since the genuine pop play of 'This Is What The Truth Feels Like', is in that same pure pop vein and lane of that new fond feeling. All with a country twang and twist. This is what happens when you judge 'The Voice' and hone yours. Alongside marrying country icon Blake Shelton, who duets on the 'Purple Irises', between all the title-tracks, 'Empty Vase's' (that have nothing to do with that awful poem Monica received on 'Friends') and 'Marigolds' (that have nothing to do with rubber gloves as Gwen gets to work).

Produced by Scott Hendriks for Interscope Records, this top ten track of all power over a half-hour, and it's latest single 'Swallow My Tears' will make you do the same to yours. More than just a girl, this woman's work just shows us another chapter in her catalogue, like the new Linkin Park, no matter how much we miss the old rock band like Chester. The lead single, 'Someone Else's', mind you, leaves some room for Doubt. Rocking as a Queen B 'Irreplaceable' empowering anthem, in a scorching summertime video, when a break-up can lead you towards the break you actually deserve. For this fifth album, Stefani relaxes on a motel room like bed, rocking a Stetson and holding all the flowers she should be getting as a living legend still in the prime of her pop powers and prowess. 'Late To Bloom'? Nah! But when Stefani sings, "I wish I met you when I was younger/Like 22 or 23/Think of all those extra summers/And maybe we could", she shows even more signature styles than Harajuku, Tokyo. All whilst triggering her almost forty-something fans (*puts a beginning to liver spot hand up*), that 'Don't Speak' was an unspeakable time ago.

These are the gentle 'Reminders' like "All the leaves are fallin' down just in time/Plant a seed a garden for a new life/Wait for rain to come" and the fact that the fall is for the fondest. Like family, or our favourite artists whose music feels like branches on that same tree of our lives. Conceived during corona, Stefani used to 'Cry Happy' with a song complied of lyrics tapped into her phone. Originally meant to be a return to the roots of her reggae and ska sound (which we hope to hear on another album), 'Bouquet' blooms into a Nashville and seventies pop-rock rhinestone inspired outfit. Curated with country classics, like featuring on her husbands 'Nobody But You' and 'Happy Anywhere', or her own breakup ballad 'All Your Fault'. We may 'Slow Clap' for that old thing back, but let Gwen reintroduce herself to this country. Sitting 'Pretty' on the flower motif as she sings, "Every wrong turn is the one I take/And every wrong move is the one I make/I've bloomed, my petals have fallen/And you showed up and you said that you're all in." Healing from the heartbreak of divorce and finding the flowers of a new love. The planting of a new seed of growth. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Somebody Else's', 'Marigolds', 'Purple Irises (With Blake Shelton)'.

Spin This: Gwen Stefani - 'This Is What The Truth Feels Like'.