Gwen Stefani, the indelible voice behind No Doubt’s karaoke staple, “Don’t Speak,” returns with a solo musical charmer that is as radio-friendly as it is revelatory.
With a predominantly optimistic tone boosting its “pop-centric” appeal, “This Is What the Truth Feels Like,” Stefani’s first solo album in 10 years, bows at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 this week—with good reason.
Tracks like “Misery” and “Rare” benefit from saccharine-laced hooks and themes that put the 46-year-old pop star’s recent romantic upheavals in perspective—from the breakup of her marriage to Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale, to her “conscious coupling” with her current squeeze and “The Voice” cojudge, Blake Shelton.
The collection’s lead single, “Used to Love You,” a pounding midtempo electropop number, is even more emotionally eloquent—it discusses the after-effects of her divorce from Rossdale last year: “Suitcase, Band-aids/ Pulling back out of the driveway/ You go, I stay/ You can keep all the memories/ I thought I was the best thing that ever happened to you!”
Stefani says she doesn’t mind telling her story because, as she explained to Entertainment Weekly, “I don’t have any secrets. I don’t have anything to hide. This is the only record I’ve written that’s mostly happy; all the others are about heartbreak.”
Proof positive
The disco-inspired “Make Me Like You,” this time about Shelton, is proof positive that the songstress is in a happy place—and in the mood to dance. The “reggaefied” electronica of “Where Would I Be?” reveals how his love has become “the lightning on my skin/ Turn me on just like a switch/ Now, you got me lit…/
Where would I be if you didn’t love me?”
Sure, Stefani sings it like it is, but she also makes sure there’s more to her music than unpleasant revelations and the lessons she had learned from them.
If you don’t want to dig deep into the songs’ themes, that’s all right, because their melodies and Gwen’s confident singing are just as significant!