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Gwen Stefani – Bouquet

Florian Buechting Uncategorized No Comments

Gwen Stefani - Bouquet

Gwen Stefani - Bouquet
3.6

Rating

 3.6/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Stefani is doing country-pop (somehow)
  • Personal, emotional storytelling

Flyctory.com Cons

  • Monotonous stories, especially in the middle of the album
  • No outstanding track

Gwen Stefani has become famous as a member and lead singer of the ska-punk band No Doubt (who reunited this year). However, since her debut album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. released in 2004, she is also successful as a solo artist, typically rather in the pop music and electro-pop genre. However, apart from a Christmas album in 2017, there hasn’t been a Gwen Stefani solo record since 2016. At least until now – as she released Bouquet on 15th November 2024. As she married Blake Shelton in the meantime, it is maybe not that surprising that it is a country-pop album. Let’s have a listen together.

 

Gwen Stefani – About The Artist

Gwen Renee  Stefani (now * Stefani Shelton) was born on 3rd October 1959 in Fullerton, California, in Greater Los Angeles. Her brother Eric introduced her to ska and made her join No Doubt in 1988. Their third album Tragic Kingdom (1995) became a huge global success, selling 16 million units worldwide and topping the charts in several markets like the United States, Canada and New Zealand. The key reasons for that were two single releases, Just a Girl and – especially – Don’t Speak, which topped the charts in a huge list of markets. However, the band broke up in 2005 the first time and Stefani pursued a solo career.

Her 2004 solo debut album was a huge success, including a five time platinum status each in the United States, Canada and Australia. Two more solo albums followed, The Sweet Escape (2006) and This Is What the Truth Feels Like (2016). The latter was still a chart-topper in the United States, but overall performed significantly weaker than its predecessors. The two biggest solo songs of her career are likely Hollaback Girl (2005) and The Sweet Escape (featuring Akon) in 2006. Both come with over 650 million streams on Spotify each. Her latest album release so far has been You Make It Feel Like Christmas, released in October 2017.

 

Gwen Stefani – Bouquet – Track by Track

The ten song album lasts 33 minutes.

1. Somebody Else’s

The opener of Bouquet, Somebody Else’s has been released in late September 2024 as the second feature single of the album. With lyrics like I don’t know what a woman like me was doin’ with a man like you, but now I got a love so true, the song is already setting the direction of the album. It is praising the love to Blake Shelton, with whom Stefani started working as judges for The Voice in 2014 and finally officially started dating in 2015, when Shelton divorced from Miranda Lambert and Stefani from Gavin Rossdale. The song is a pop-rock track with slight Americana vibes.

2. Bouquet

Right after this energetic listen, the album presents its title track. The very first lines are We met when my heart was broken, thank God that yours was too. The song comes with a much stronger country-pop attitude than the opener. The result is an emotional and personal write with straight storytelling, which could have a stronger catch, maybe.

You bring the diamond, I’ll bring the promise
You bring the dogs and I’ll bring the boys
You give me everything that I wanted
I even got your last name
I got the faith and you got the patience
I drive you crazy, you drive the truck
I know that we’ll be okay
We’re makin’ our own bouquet
Sunflowers and roses, tied up in a bow and
Now look at the life we made
We’re makin’ our own bouquet

3. Pretty

I never felt pretty ’til you loved me and I always felt pretty, pretty, pretty unlucky – these lines in the chorus of the third song confused me a bit. Stefani was married to Rossdale for 13 years, must have been a terrible time in case you assume that these lyrics are truthful. Not only from that perspective, the song is not really a highlight of the album to me – it overall feels a bit of thin.

4. Empty Vase

I guess that after three songs of Bouquet, you already know in which direction the next song is heading. Stefani starts the song comparing herself with an empty vase just sitting on the counter, just in order to state in chorus ‘Cause you went and filled this empty vase with flowers. Yeah, you should always treat your partner well if you are married to a songwriter – otherwise, the result might being featured in one of his next releases somehow. The song has a quite nice, emotional touch, though.

5. Marigolds

Unfortunately, it does not make too much sense to tell you the story of this song. It is almost the same like the two songs before – just the metaphors are changing. And this one is more rhythmic and more pop-ish than the two tracks before.

6. Late To Bloom

They say good things come to those who wait, and I can say they really do
It felt like centuries waiting here for you
And now, we’re drivin’ in the truck under the full strawberry moon
Wish we could hit the brakes and stay forever June
Baby, this love was late to bloom

The sixth track Late To Bloom is somehow struggling that Stefani met Shelton so late in her life, but also appreciating the current situation. Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me for the rest of my life – this guy felt to have a massive impact to Stefani’s life. But we knew that already, as we listened to the five songs before. However, this song comes with a nice speed and rhythm, so I overall really like it.

7. Swallow My Tears

Swallow My Tears has been the last feature single of Bouquet, released in late October 2024. After all the Blake Shelton-praises, this song more focuses on personal struggles (I want you here, but first let me swallow my tears). Thus, the song feels even more special in the context of the album, blending a bit of country music with a bit more of pop music.

8. Reminders

The eighth song Reminders is about the time Shelton ad Stefani met and that from time to time, you just need a few reminders to that time to see what lied behind the two musicians. The special and characteristic voice of Stefani feels being a perfect match for that kind of song. A nice listen.

9. All Your Fault

All Your Fault is coming with a rather strong country-pop touch. It themes that love also makes you more vulnerable from a certain perspective, finally leading to the statement It’s all your fault. Especially the melody of the chorus is nice and leads to a nice catch.

10. Purple Irises (feat. Blake Shelton)

How could an album more or less exclusively focusing on the love of Shelton and Stefani end better than with a duet of the two artists? That’s exactly what Purple Irises delivers. The song is harmonic and definitely one of the most present tracks of Bouquet.

 

Gwen Stefani – Bouquet – Spotify

Here is the album on Spotify:

 

Gwen Stefani – Bouquet – My View

I just cannot deny that especially the middle part of Bouquet did bore me quite a bit. I guess we all got the message now that Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton is something like perfect love, rising out of two failed marriages before. Overall, the album is a nice listen, but definitely not what you might expect when these musical superpowers define the story of the record. Thus, I am rather on the disappointed side.

Favorite Song: Reminders

 

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